Deuteronomii 21
1 Quando inventum fuerit in terra, quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi, hominis cadaver occisi, et ignorabitur caedis reus,
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 egredientur maiores natu, et iudices tui, et metientur a loco cadaveris singularum per circuitum spatia civitatum:
Your elders and judges must come and measure the distance from the body to the surrounding towns.
3 et quam viciniorem ceteris esse perspexerint, seniores civitatis illius tollent vitulam de armento, quae non traxit iugum, nec terram scidit vomere,
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 et ducent eam ad vallem asperam atque saxosam, quae numquam arata est, nec sementem recepit: et caedent in ea cervices vitulae:
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 accedentque sacerdotes filii Levi, quos elegerit Dominus Deus tuus ut ministrent ei, et benedicant in nomine eius, et ad verbum eorum omne negotium, et quidquid mundum, vel immundum est, iudicetur.
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 Et venient maiores natu civitatis illius ad interfectum, lavabuntque manus suas super vitulam, quae in valle percussa est,
Then all the elders of the town nearest the body are to wash their hands in the stream over the dead cow, saying,
7 et dicent: Manus nostrae non effuderunt sanguinem hunc, nec oculi viderunt.
“We had nothing to do with this murder, and we didn't see who did it.
8 propitius esto populo tuo Israel, quem redemisti Domine, et ne reputes sanguinem innocentem in medio populi tui Israel. Et auferetur ab eis reatus sanguinis:
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 tu autem alienus eris ab innocentis cruore, qui fusus est, cum feceris quod praecepit Dominus.
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 Si egressus fueris ad pugnam contra inimicos tuos, et tradiderit eos Dominus Deus tuus in manu tua, captivosque duxeris,
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 et videris in numero captivorum mulierem pulchram, et adamaveris eam, voluerisque habere uxorem,
you may see that one of them is a beautiful woman who you like and want to marry.
12 introduces eam in domum tuam: quae radet caesariem, et circumcidet ungues,
Take her home and have her shave her head, cut her nails,
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 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 Si autem postea non sederit animo tuo, dimittes eam liberam, nec vendere poteris pecunia, nec opprimere per potentiam: quia humiliasti eam.
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 Si habuerit homo uxores duas, unam dilectam, et alteram odiosam, genueritque ex eis liberos, et fuerit filius odiosae primogenitus,
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 volueritque substantiam inter filios suos dividere: non poterit filium dilectae facere primogenitum, et praeferre filio odiosae,
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 sed filium odiosae agnoscet primogenitum, dabitque ei de his quae habuerit cuncta duplicia: iste est enim principium liberorum eius, et huic debentur primogenita.
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 Si genuerit homo filium contumacem et protervum, qui non audierit patris aut matris imperium, et coercitus obedire contempserit:
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 apprehendent eum, et ducent ad seniores civitatis illius, et ad portam iudicii,
his parents must take him to the town elders, to the court in his hometown,
20 dicentque ad eos: Filius noster iste protervus et contumax est, monita nostra audire contemnit, comessationibus vacat, et luxuriae atque conviviis:
and tell them, “Our son is obstinate and rebellious, He doesn't obey us. He's a worthless drunk!”
21 lapidibus eum obruet populus civitatis: et morietur, ut auferatis malum de medio vestri, et universus Israel audiens pertimescat.
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 Quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est, et adiudicatus morti appensus fuerit in patibulo:
If someone commits a crime punishable by death, and the person is executed by hanging on a tree,
23 non permanebit cadaver eius 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.
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.
