Deuteronomii 21

1 Quando inventum fuerit in terra, quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi, hominis cadaver occisi, et ignorabitur cædis reus,

“When there will have been found in the land, which the Lord your God will give to you, the corpse of a man who has been killed, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

2 egredientur majores natu, et judices tui, et metientur a loco cadaveris singularum per circuitum spatia civitatum:

your judges and those greater by birth shall go out and measure, from the place of the corpse, the distance to each of the surrounding cities.

3 et quam viciniorem ceteris esse perspexerint, seniores civitatis illius tollent vitulam de armento, quæ non traxit jugum, nec terram scidit vomere,

And in whichever one they perceive to be closer than the others, the elders shall take a calf from the herd, one which has not pulled with a yoke, nor tilled with a plow.

4 et ducent eam ad vallem asperam atque saxosam, quæ numquam arata est, nec sementem recepit: et cædent in ea cervices vitulæ:

And they shall lead it into a rough and stony valley, one which has never been tilled or sown. And in that place, they shall cut the neck of the calf.

5 accedentque sacerdotes filii Levi, quos elegerit Dominus Deus tuus ut ministrent ei, et benedicant in nomine ejus, et ad verbum eorum omne negotium, et quidquid mundum, vel immundum est, judicetur.

And the priests the sons of Levi shall approach, those whom the Lord your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and to decide every controversy by their word, and to judge which things are clean and which are unclean.

6 Et venient majores natu civitatis illius ad interfectum, lavabuntque manus suas super vitulam, quæ in valle percussa est,

And those greater by birth of that city, nearest to the one who was slain, shall go and shall wash their hands over the calf that was killed in the valley.

7 et dicent: Manus nostræ non effuderunt sanguinem hunc, nec oculi viderunt:

And they shall say: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

8 propitius esto populo tuo Israël, quem redemisti, Domine, et ne reputes sanguinem innocentem in medio populi tui Israël. Et auferetur ab eis reatus sanguinis:

Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not charge them with innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.’ And so the guilt of the blood will be taken away from them.

9 tu autem alienus eris ab innocentis cruore, qui fusus est, cum feceris quod præcepit Dominus.

Then you will be free from the blood that was shed against the innocent, when you will have done as the Lord has instructed you.

10 Si egressus fueris ad pugnam contra inimicos tuos, et tradiderit eos Dominus Deus tuus in manu tua, captivosque duxeris,

If you have gone out to fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand, and if, as you are leading away the captives,

11 et videris in numero captivorum mulierem pulchram, et adamaveris eam, voluerisque habere uxorem,

you see among the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and you love her, and you are willing to have her as a wife:

12 introduces eam in domum tuam: quæ radet cæsariem, et circumcidet ungues,

then you shall lead her into your house. And she shall shave off her hair, and cut her nails short,

13 et deponet vestem, in qua capta est: sedensque in domo tua, flebit patrem et matrem suam uno mense: et postea intrabis ad eam, dormiesque cum illa, et erit uxor tua.

and remove the garment in which she was captured. And she shall sit in your house and weep for her father and mother, for one month. And after that, you shall enter to her and sleep with her, and she shall be your wife.

14 Si autem postea non sederit animo tuo, dimittes eam liberam, nec vendere poteris pecunia, nec opprimere per potentiam: quia humiliasti eam.

But if afterwards she does not sit well in your mind, you shall set her free. You cannot sell her for money, nor can you oppress her by force. For you have humiliated her.

15 Si habuerit homo uxores duas, unam dilectam, et alteram odiosam, genuerintque ex eo liberos, et fuerit filius odiosæ primogenitus,

If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they have produced children by him, and if the son of the hated wife is the firstborn,

16 volueritque substantiam inter filios suos dividere, non poterit filium dilectæ facere primogenitum, et præferre filio odiosæ:

and if he wishes to divide his substance among his sons: he cannot make the son of the beloved wife the firstborn, and so prefer him before the son of the hated wife.

17 sed filium odiosæ agnoscet primogenitum, dabitque ei de his quæ habuerit cuncta duplicia: iste est enim principium liberorum ejus, et huic debentur primogenita.

Instead, he shall acknowledge the son of the hated wife as the firstborn, and he shall give to him a double portion of all that he has. For he is the first among his children, and the rights of the firstborn are owed to him.

18 Si genuerit homo filium contumacem et protervum, qui non audiat patris aut matris imperium, et coërcitus obedire contempserit:

If a man produces a disobedient and reckless son, who will not listen to the orders of his father or mother, and, having been corrected, shows contempt for obedience:

19 apprehendent eum, et ducent ad seniores civitatis illius, et ad portam judicii,

they shall take him and lead him to the elders of the city and to the gate of judgment.

20 dicentque ad eos: Filius noster iste protervus et contumax est: monita nostra audire contemnit, comessationibus vacat, et luxuriæ atque conviviis:

And they shall say to them: ‘This our son is reckless and disobedient. He shows contempt when listening to our admonitions. He occupies himself with carousing, and self-indulgence, and feasting.’

21 lapidibus eum obruet populus civitatis, et morietur, ut auferatis malum de medio vestri, et universus Israël audiens pertimescat.

Then the people of the city shall stone him to death. And he shall die, so that you may take away the evil from your midst. And so may all of Israel, upon hearing it, be very afraid.

22 Quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est, et adjudicatus morti appensus fuerit in patibulo:

When a man will have sinned in a matter which is punished by death, and, having been judged unto death, he has been hanged on a gallows:

23 non permanebit cadaver ejus in ligno, sed in eadem die sepelietur: quia maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno: et nequaquam contaminabis terram tuam, quam Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi in possessionem.

his corpse shall not remain on the tree. Instead, he shall be buried on the same day. For he who hangs from a tree has been cursed by God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord your God will give to you as a possession.”