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 one be found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it isn't 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 forth, 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;

and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hasn't 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.

and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer 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 cohanim the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

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, who are 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.

and 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 in the midst of 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 the midst of you, when you shall do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD.

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 forth 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 desire to take her to be 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; and 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.

and she shall remove the clothing she was wearing when captured, and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month. And after that you may 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 are not pleased with her, then you must let her go where she wants; but you may not sell her for money or treat her as a commodity, since you have had relations with 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 loved, and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved; and if the firstborn son is hers who was unloved;

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 make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, 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 unloved, 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 have 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 shall his father and his mother lay hold on 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.

and 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 put away the evil from the midst of you; and 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 have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be 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 everyone who hangs on a tree is cursed by God; that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.