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,

And if one be found slain with the sword in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, having fallen in the field, and they do not know who has smitten [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;

thine elders and thy judges shall come forth, and shall measure the distances of the cities round about the slain man:

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;

and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured, and which has not borne a 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.

And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough valley, which has not been tilled and is not sown, and they shall slay the heifer 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.

And the priests the Levites shall come, because the Lord God has chosen them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke 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;

And all the elders of that city who draw nigh to the slain man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain in the valley;

7 and thei schulen seie, Oure hondis schedden not out this blood, nether oure iyen sien.

and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not 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.

Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, that innocent blood may not be charged on thy people Israel: and the blood shall be atoned for to 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.

And thou shalt take away innocent blood from among you, if thou shouldest do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.

10 If thou goist out to batel ayens thin enemyes, that thi Lord God bitakith hem in thin hond, and thou ledist prisoneris,

And if when thou goest out to war against thine enemies, the Lord thy God should deliver them into thine hands, and thou shouldest take their spoil,

11 and thou seest in the noumbre of prisounneris a fair womman, and thou louest hir, and wole haue hir to wijf,

and shouldest see among the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and shouldest desire her, and take her to thyself for a 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,

and shouldest bring her within thine house: then shalt thou shave her head, and pare 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.

and shalt take away her garments of captivity from off her, and she shall abide in thine house, and shall bewail her father and mother the days of a month; and afterwards thou shalt go in to her and dwell with her, and she shall be thy 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.

And it shall be if thou do not delight in her, thou shalt send her out free; and she shall not by any means be sold for money, thou shalt not treat her contemptuously, because thou hast 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,

And if a man have two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and both the loved and the hated should have born him [children], and the son of the hated should be first-born;

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 that whensoever he shall divide by inheritance his goods to his sons, he shall not be able to give the right of the first-born to the son of the loved one, having overlooked the son of the hated, which is the first-born.

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 first-born of the hated one to give to him double of all things which shall be found by him, because he is the first of his children, and to him belongs the birthright.

18 If a man gendrith a sone rebel, and ouerthewert, which herith not the comaundement of fadir and modir, and he is chastisid,

And if any man has a disobedient and contentious son, who hearkens not to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they should correct him, and he should not hearken 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 shall his father and his mother take hold of him, and bring him forth to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the 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.

and they shall say to the men of their city, This our son is disobedient and contentious, he hearkens not to our voice, he is a reveler 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.

And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; and thou shalt remove the evil one from yourselves, and the rest 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,

And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgment of death [be upon him], and he be put to death, and ye 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 upon the tree, but ye shall by all means bury it in that day; for every one that is hanged on a tree is cursed of God; and ye shall by no means defile the land which the Lord thy God gives thee for an inheritance.