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,
“Suppose someone has been murdered in a field in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, and you do not know who killed that person.
2 then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which [are] round about the slain one,
[If that happens], your elders and judges must go out to where that person’s corpse was found and measure the distance from there to each of the nearby 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 in the town that is closest to where the corpse was found must select a young cow that has never been used for doing 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.
They must take it to a place near a stream where the ground has never been plowed or planted. They must break its neck there in that valley.
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 priests must go there also, because Yahweh our God has chosen them from the tribe of Levi to serve him and to be his representatives [MTY] when they bless people. And he has also chosen them to settle disputes in which someone has been injured.
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,
The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,
7 and they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen —
and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not 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,
Yahweh, forgive us, your Israeli people whom you rescued [from Egypt]. Do not consider (us to be guilty/that we should be punished because) of murdering someone who (is innocent/had not done something that is wrong). Instead, forgive us.’
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.
By doing that, you will be doing what Yahweh considers to be right, and you will not be considered to be guilty for murdering that person.”
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 [soldiers] go to fight against your enemies, and Yahweh our God enables you to defeat them [IDM], and (they become your prisoners/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,
one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.
12 then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,
He should take her to his home, and there she must shave [all the hair off] her head and cut her fingernails [to signify that now she does not belong to her people-group any more, but instead she is becoming an Israeli].
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:
She must take off the clothes that she was wearing when she was captured, [and put on Israeli clothes]. She must stay in that man’s house and mourn for a month because of [leaving] her parents. After that, he will be allowed to marry her.
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.
Later, if he no longer is pleased with her, he will be permitted to allow her to leave him. But because she was forced to have sex with him, he will not be allowed to treat her like a slave [and sell her to someone else].”
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;
“Suppose that a man has two wives, but he likes one of them and dislikes the other one. And suppose that they both give birth to sons, and the oldest son is the child of the woman that he does not like.
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.
On the day when that man decides how he will divide his possessions for his sons to possess [after he dies], he must not favor the son of the wife that he loves by giving him [a bigger share, ] the share that the older son should receive.
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.
He must give to the older son, the son of the wife whom he does not like, twice as much of his possessions. That son is his firstborn son, and he must be given the share that he should receive because of his being that man’s firstborn son.”
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 —
“Suppose there is a boy who is very stubborn and always (rebelling against/disobeying) [his parents], and who will not heed what they say to him. And suppose that they punish him but he still does not pay attention to what they tell him [MTY].
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,
If that happens, his parents must take him to the (gate of/central meeting place in) the city where he lives and have him stand in front of the elders of the city.
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;
Then the parents must say to the elders of that city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and always rebelling against us. He will not pay attention to what we tell him [MTY]. He wastes a lot of money (OR, eats too much food) and gets 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 elders of that city must execute him by throwing stones at him. By doing that, you will get rid of this evil practice among you. And everyone in Israel will hear [about what happened] and they will be afraid [to do what he did].”
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 is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,
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.
you must not allow his corpse to remain there all night. You must bury it on the day that he died, because [God] has cursed anyone whose corpse is allowed to remain on a post. [You must bury the corpse that day], in order that you do not defile the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you.”
