Deuteronomy 21

1 'When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it — fallen in a field — it is not known who hath smitten him,

And if one be found slain with the sword in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, having fallen in the field, and they do not know who has smitten [him];

2 then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which [are] round about the slain one,

thine elders and thy judges shall come forth, and shall measure the distances of the cities round about the slain man:

3 and it hath been, the city which [is] near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,

and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured, and which has not borne a yoke.

4 and the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.

And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough valley, which has not been tilled and is not sown, and they shall slay the heifer in the valley.

5 'And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh — for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke —

And the priests the Levites shall come, because the Lord God has chosen them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be [decided].

6 and all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

And all the elders of that city who draw nigh to the slain man shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain in the valley;

7 and they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen —

and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen [it].

8 receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, that innocent blood may not be charged on thy people Israel: and the blood shall be atoned for to them.

9 and thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which [is] right in the eyes of Jehovah.

And thou shalt take away innocent blood from among you, if thou shouldest do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.

10 'When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,

And if when thou goest out to war against thine enemies, the Lord thy God should deliver them into thine hands, and thou shouldest take their spoil,

11 and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,

and shouldest see among the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and shouldest desire her, and take her to thyself for a wife,

12 then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,

and shouldest bring her within thine house: then shalt thou shave her head, and pare her nails;

13 and turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a wife:

and shalt take away her garments of captivity from off her, and she shall abide in thine house, and shall bewail her father and mother the days of a month; and afterwards thou shalt go in to her and dwell with her, and she shall be thy wife.

14 'And it hath been — if thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that thou hast humbled her.

And it shall be if thou do not delight in her, thou shalt send her out free; and she shall not by any means be sold for money, thou shalt not treat her contemptuously, because thou hast humbled her.

15 'When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;

And if a man have two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and both the loved and the hated should have born him [children], and the son of the hated should be first-born;

16 then it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one — the first-born.

then it shall be that whensoever he shall divide by inheritance his goods to his sons, he shall not be able to give the right of the first-born to the son of the loved one, having overlooked the son of the hated, which is the first-born.

17 But the first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he [is] the beginning of his strength; to him [is] the right of the first-born.

But he shall acknowledge the first-born of the hated one to give to him double of all things which shall be found by him, because he is the first of his children, and to him belongs the birthright.

18 'When a man hath a son apostatizing and rebellious — he is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth not hearken unto them —

And if any man has a disobedient and contentious son, who hearkens not to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they should correct him, and he should not hearken to them;

19 then laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place,

then shall his father and his mother take hold of him, and bring him forth to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the place:

20 and have said unto the elders of his city, Our son — this one — is apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voice — a glutton and drunkard;

and they shall say to the men of their city, This our son is disobedient and contentious, he hearkens not to our voice, he is a reveler and a drunkard.

21 and all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do hear and fear.

And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; and thou shalt remove the evil one from yourselves, and the rest shall hear and fear.

22 'And when there is in a man a sin — a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,

And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgment of death [be upon him], and he be put to death, and ye hang him on a tree:

23 his corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day — for a thing lightly esteemed of God [is] the hanged one — and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance.

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but ye shall by all means bury it in that day; for every one that is hanged on a tree is cursed of God; and ye shall by no means defile the land which the Lord thy God gives thee for an inheritance.