Deuteronomy 21
1 'When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it — fallen in a field — it is not known who hath smitten him,
Someone may be found murdered, lying in a field in the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own, and nobody knows who killed them.
2 then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which [are] round about the slain one,
Your elders and judges must come and measure the distance from the body to the surrounding towns.
3 and it hath been, the city which [is] near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,
Then the elders of the town that's found to be nearest to the body shall take a cow that has never been put under a yoke or used for work.
4 and the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.
Take the cow to a valley that has a stream running through it and whose ground has never been plowed or sown. Break the cow's neck there beside the stream.
5 'And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh — for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke —
The Levitical priests must be there too, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to give blessings in his name, and to decide on legal disputes and cases of assault.
6 and all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,
Then all the elders of the town nearest the body are to wash their hands in the stream over the dead cow, saying,
7 and they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen —
“We had nothing to do with this murder, and we didn't see who did it.
8 receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,
Lord, please forgive your people Israel who you rescued, and do not hold them guilty of shedding of innocent blood In this way the guilt for shedding blood will be forgiven.”
9 and thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah.
This is how you are to remove from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the Lord's sight.
10 'When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,
When you go to war with your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you in defeat, and you capture them,
11 and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,
you may see that one of them is a beautiful woman who you like and want to marry.
12 then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,
Take her home and have her shave her head, cut her nails,
13 and turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a wife:
and get rid of the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. After she has lived in your home and has finished her month of mourning for her father and mother, you may sleep with her and marry her, and she shall be your wife.
14 'And it hath been — if thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that thou hast humbled her.
However, if you are not happy with her, you must let her leave and go wherever she wants. You are not allowed to sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you have brought shame on her.
15 'When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;
If a man has two wives, one he loves and one he doesn't, and both have sons by him, but the firstborn son is from the wife he doesn't love,
16 then it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one — the first-born.
when the time comes for the man to decide what each son will inherit from him, he must not prefer the son of wife he loves and treat him as the firstborn instead of the son of the wife he doesn't love.
17 But the first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he [is] the beginning of his strength; to him [is] the right of the first-born.
No. He is to recognize the firstborn, the son of the wife he doesn't love through the usual custom of giving him a double portion of all that he owns. The firstborn son is the firstfruits of his father's strength, and so the rights of the firstborn are his.
18 'When a man hath a son apostatizing and rebellious — he is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth not hearken unto them —
If someone has a obstinate and rebellious son who doesn't obey his parents and doesn't obey them even when he's punished,
19 then laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place,
his parents must take him to the town elders, to the court in his hometown,
20 and have said unto the elders of his city, Our son — this one — is apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voice — a glutton and drunkard;
and tell them, “Our son is obstinate and rebellious, He doesn't obey us. He's a worthless drunk!”
21 and all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do hear and fear.
Then all the men of his home town will stone him to death. You must eliminate the evil from among you, and every Israelite will hear about it and be afraid.
22 'And when there is in a man a sin — a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,
If someone commits a crime punishable by death, and the person is executed by hanging on a tree,
23 his corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day — for a thing lightly esteemed of God [is] the hanged one — and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance.
don't leave the body hanging there overnight. Make sure you bury the body the same day, because anyone who is hung is under God's curse. Don't defile the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own.
