< Deuteronomii 21 >
1 quando inventum fuerit in terra quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi hominis cadaver occisi et ignoratur caedis reus
“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 egredientur maiores natu et iudices tui et metientur a loco cadaveris singularum per circuitum spatia civitatum
[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 et quam viciniorem ceteris esse perspexerint seniores civitatis eius tollent vitulam de armento quae non traxit iugum nec terram scidit vomere
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 et ducent eam ad vallem asperam atque saxosam quae numquam arata est nec sementem recepit et caedent in ea cervices vitulae
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 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
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 et maiores natu civitatis illius ad interfectum lavabuntque manus suas super vitulam quae in valle percussa est
The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,
7 et dicent manus nostrae non effuderunt hunc sanguinem nec oculi viderunt
and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not see who did 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
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 tu autem alienus eris ab innocentis cruore qui fusus est cum feceris quod praecepit Dominus
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 si egressus fueris ad pugnam contra inimicos tuos et tradiderit eos Dominus Deus tuus in manu tua captivosque duxeris
“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 et videris in numero captivorum mulierem pulchram et adamaveris eam voluerisque habere uxorem
one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.
12 introduces in domum tuam quae radet caesariem et circumcidet ungues
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 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
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 sin autem postea non sederit animo tuo dimittes eam liberam nec vendere poteris pecunia nec opprimere per potentiam quia humiliasti eam
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 si habuerit homo uxores duas unam dilectam et alteram odiosam genuerintque ex eo liberos et fuerit filius odiosae primogenitus
“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 volueritque substantiam inter filios suos dividere non poterit filium dilectae facere primogenitum et praeferre filio odiosae
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 sed filium odiosae agnoscet primogenitum dabitque ei de his quae habuerit cuncta duplicia iste est enim principium liberorum eius et huic debentur primogenita
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 si genuerit homo filium contumacem et protervum qui non audiat patris aut matris imperium et coercitus oboedire contempserit
“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 adprehendent eum et ducent ad seniores civitatis illius et ad portam iudicii
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 dicentque ad eos filius noster iste protervus et contumax est monita nostra audire contemnit comesationibus vacat et luxuriae atque conviviis
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 lapidibus eum obruet populus civitatis et morietur ut auferatis malum de medio vestri et universus Israhel audiens pertimescat
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 quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est et adiudicatus morti adpensus fuerit in patibulo
“If someone is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,
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
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.”