Deuteronomii 21

1 quando inventum fuerit in terra quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi hominis cadaver occisi et ignoratur caedis reus

If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him:

2 egredientur maiores natu et iudices tui et metientur a loco cadaveris singularum per circuitum spatia civitatum

then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

3 et quam viciniorem ceteris esse perspexerint seniores civitatis eius tollent vitulam de armento quae non traxit iugum nec terram scidit vomere

and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

4 et ducent eam ad vallem asperam atque saxosam quae numquam arata est nec sementem recepit et caedent in ea cervices vitulae

and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley:

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 quicquid mundum vel inmundum est iudicetur

and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be:

6 et maiores natu civitatis illius ad interfectum lavabuntque manus suas super vitulam quae in valle percussa est

and all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley:

7 et dicent manus nostrae non effuderunt hunc sanguinem nec oculi viderunt

and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

8 propitius esto populo tuo Israhel quem redemisti Domine et non reputes sanguinem innocentem in medio populi tui Israhel et auferetur ab eis reatus sanguinis

Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

9 tu autem alienus eris ab innocentis cruore qui fusus est cum feceris quod praecepit Dominus

So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD.

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

When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God delivereth them into thine hands, and thou carriest them away captive,

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

and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife;

12 introduces in domum tuam quae radet caesariem et circumcidet ungues

then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare 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 she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14 sin autem postea non sederit animo tuo dimittes eam liberam nec vendere poteris pecunia nec opprimere per potentiam quia humiliasti eam

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not deal with her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.

15 si habuerit homo uxores duas unam dilectam et alteram odiosam genuerintque ex eo liberos et fuerit filius odiosae primogenitus

If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated;

16 volueritque substantiam inter filios suos dividere non poterit filium dilectae facere primogenitum et praeferre filio odiosae

then it shall be, in the day that he causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn before the son of the hated, which is the firstborn:

17 sed filium odiosae agnoscet primogenitum dabitque ei de his quae habuerit cuncta duplicia iste est enim principium liberorum eius et huic debentur primogenita

but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

18 si genuerit homo filium contumacem et protervum qui non audiat patris aut matris imperium et coercitus oboedire contempserit

If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them:

19 adprehendent eum et ducent ad seniores civitatis illius et ad portam iudicii

then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

20 dicentque ad eos filius noster iste protervus et contumax est monita nostra audire contemnit comesationibus vacat et luxuriae atque conviviis

and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a riotous liver, and a drunkard.

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

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

22 quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est et adiudicatus morti adpensus fuerit in patibulo

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him 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

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.