Deuteronomy 21
1 Whanne the careyn of a man slayn is foundun in the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee, and `the gilti of sleyng is vnknowun,
If someone is found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who has struck him,
2 the grettere men in birthe and thi iugis schulen go out, and schulen mete fro the place of the careyn the spaces of alle citees `bi cumpas;
then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is slain.
3 and the eldre men of that citee, `which thei seen to be neer than othere, schulen take of the droue a cow calf, that `drow not yok, nether kittide the erthe with a schar;
It shall be that the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with and which has not drawn in the yoke.
4 and thei schulen lede that cow calf to a scharp `valey, and ful of stoonys, that was neuere erid, nether resseyuede seed; and in that valey thei schulen kitte the heed of the cow calf.
The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.
5 And the preestis, the sones of Leuy, schulen neiye, whiche thi Lord God chees, that thei mynystre to hym, and blesse in his name, and al the cause hange at `the word of hem; and what euer thing is cleene ethir vncleene, be demed.
The priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the LORD’s name; and according to their word shall every controversy and every assault be decided.
6 And the grettere men in birthe of that citee schulen come to the slayn man, and thei schulen waische her hondis on the cow calf, that was slayn in the valei;
All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.
7 and thei schulen seie, Oure hondis schedden not out this blood, nether oure iyen sien.
They shall answer and say, “Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8 Lord, be mercyful to thi puple Israel, whom thou `ayen brouytist, and arette thou not innocent blood in the myddis of thi puple Israel. And the gilt of blood schal be don awey fro hem.
Forgive, LORD, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not allow innocent blood among your people Israel.” The blood shall be forgiven them.
9 Forsothe thou schalt be alien fro the blood of the innocent which is sched, whanne thou hast do that that the Lord comaundide.
So you shall put away the innocent blood from among you, when you shall do that which is right in the LORD’s eyes.
10 If thou goist out to batel ayens thin enemyes, that thi Lord God bitakith hem in thin hond, and thou ledist prisoneris,
When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you carry them away captive,
11 and thou seest in the noumbre of prisounneris a fair womman, and thou louest hir, and wole haue hir to wijf,
and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her, and desire to take her as your wife,
12 thou schalt brynge hir in to thin hows; `which womman schal schaue the heer, and schal kitte the nailes aboute, and sche schal putte awei the clooth,
then you shall bring her home to your house. She shall shave her head and trim her nails.
13 wher ynne sche was takun, and sche schal sitte in thin hows, and schal biwepe hir fadir and modir o monethe; and aftirward thou schalt entre to hir, and schalt sleepe with hir, and sche schal be thi wijf.
She shall take off the clothing of her captivity, and shall remain in your house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month. After that you shall go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
14 But if aftirward sche sittith not in thi soule, `that is, plesith not thi wille, thou schalt delyuere hir fre, nethir thou schalt mowe sille hir for money, nether oppresse bi power, for thou `madist hir lowe.
It shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall let her go where she desires; but you shall not sell her at all for money. You shall not deal with her as a slave, because you have humbled her.
15 If a man hath twey wyues, oon loued, and `the tothir hateful, and he gendrith of hir fre children, and the sone of the hateful wijf is the firste gendrid,
If a man has two wives, the one beloved and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son is hers who was hated,
16 and the man wole departe the catel bitwixe hise sones, he schal not mowe make the sone of the loued wijf the firste gendrid, and sette bifor the sone of the hateful wijf,
then it shall be, in the day that he causes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the son of the beloved the rights of the firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;
17 but he schal knowe the sone of the hateful wijf the firste gendrid, and he schal yyue to that sone alle thingis double of tho thingis that he hath; for this sone is the begynnyng of his fre children, and the firste gendrid thingis ben due to hym.
but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.
18 If a man gendrith a sone rebel, and ouerthewert, which herith not the comaundement of fadir and modir, and he is chastisid,
If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not listen to them,
19 and dispisith to obei, thei schulen take hym, and schulen lede to the eldre men of that citee, and to the yate of doom;
then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his place.
20 and thei schulen seie to hem, This oure sone is ouerthewert and rebel; he dispisith to here oure monestyngis, `ethir heestis, he yyueth tent to glotonyes, and letcherie, and feestis.
They shall tell the elders of his city, “This our son is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
21 The puple of the citee schal oppresse hym with stoonus, and he schal die, that ye do awei yuel fro the myddis of you, and that al Israel here, and drede.
All the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall remove the evil from among you. All Israel shall hear, and fear.
22 Whanne a man doith a synne which is worthi to be punyschid bi deeth, and he is demed to deeth, and is hangid in a iebat,
If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
23 his careyn schal not dwelle in the tre, but it schal be biried in the same dai; for he that hangith in the cros is cursid of God, and thou schalt not defoule thi lond which thi Lord God yaf thee in to possessioun.
his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him the same day; for he who is hanged is accursed of God. Do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
