Deuteronomio 21
1 Si, en la tierra que el Señor tu Dios te está dando, te encuentras con el cadáver de un hombre en el campo abierto, y no tienes idea de quién lo mató.
“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 Entonces, tus hombres responsables y tus jueces saldrán y darán órdenes para medir la distancia del cadáver a los pueblos que la rodean.
[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 Y cualquiera que sea el pueblo más cercano al cuerpo, los hombres responsables de ese pueblo deben sacar de la manada una vaca joven que nunca ha sido utilizada para el trabajo o sometida al yugo;
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 Y ellos llevarán a la vaca a un valle donde fluye agua, y que no está arada ni plantada, y allí se romperá el cuello de la vaca.
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 Entonces los sacerdotes, los hijos de Leví, se acercarán; porque han sido escogidos por el Señor tu Dios para ser sus siervos y para dar bendiciones en el nombre del Señor; y por su decisión, cada argumento y cada golpe debe ser juzgado:
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 Y todos los hombres responsables de la ciudad que está más cerca del hombre muerto, lavando sus manos sobre la becerra cuyo cuello fue quebrado en el valle,
The elders from the closest town must wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken,
7 Dirá: Esta muerte no es obra de nuestras manos y nuestros ojos no la han visto.
and they must say, ‘We did not murder this person [MTY], and we did not see who did it.
8 Ten piedad, oh Señor, de tu pueblo Israel, a quien has liberado, y quita a tu pueblo el crimen de una muerte sin causa. Entonces ya no serán responsables de la muerte del hombre.
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 Así quitarás de ti el crimen de una muerte sin causa, cuando hagas lo correcto ante los ojos del Señor.
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 Cuando sales a la guerra contra otras naciones, y el Señor su Dios les entregó en sus manos y los toman como prisioneros;
“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 Si entre los prisioneros ves a una mujer hermosa y es tu deseo hacerla tu esposa;
one of you may see among them a beautiful woman that he likes, and he may want to marry her.
12 Entonces llévala a tu casa; y que se le corten el pelo y las uñas;
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 Deje que ella se quite el vestido con el que fue hecha prisionera y continúe viviendo en tu casa y llorará por su padre y su madre durante un mes entero. Después de eso, puede ir a ella y ser su esposo, y ella será tu esposa.
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 Pero si no te deleitas en ella, debes dejarla ir a donde quiera; No la venderás, ni la tratarás como esclava, ni como tu propiedad, ya que la has deshonrado.
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 un hombre tiene dos esposas, una ama mucho y la otra odia, y las dos han tenido hijos con él; y si el primer hijo es el hijo de la odiada esposa;
“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 Luego, cuando entrega sus bienes a sus hijos por su herencia, no debe poner al hijo de su ser querido en el lugar del primer hijo, el hijo de la odiada esposa:
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 Pero debe dar a su primer hijo su derecho de nacimiento, y el doble de parte de su propiedad: porque es el primer fruto de su fortaleza y el derecho del primer hijo es suyo.
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 un hombre tiene un hijo de corazón duro e incontrolado, que no presta atención a la voz de su padre y madre, y que no será gobernado por ellos, aunque le den el castigo:
“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 Luego, que su padre y su madre lo lleven a los hombres responsables del pueblo, al lugar público;
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 Y diles: Este nuestro hijo es de corazón duro e incontrolado, no nos prestará atención; Se entrega al placer y a la bebida fuerte.
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 Entonces todos los hombres del pueblo lo apedrearán hasta morir. Así que tú debes quitar el mal de en medio de ti y todo Israel, al oírlo, se llenará de temor.
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 Si un hombre comete un crimen por el cual el castigo es la muerte, y se le mata al colgarlo de un árbol;
“If someone is executed for having committed a crime for which he deserves to die, and you hang his corpse on a post,
23 No permitan que su cuerpo esté en el árbol toda la noche, sino que lo sepultarás ese mismo día; porque el hombre que sufre el ahorcamiento es maldito por Dios; así que no dejes inmunda la tierra que el Señor tu Dios te da para tu herencia.
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.”
