Deuteronomy 21

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

If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

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

your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.

3 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.

Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

4 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 kill the heifer in the valley.

bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.

5 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].

And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

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

Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

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

and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

8 Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, that innocent blood may not be charged on your people Israel: and the blood shall be atoned for to them.

Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

9 And you shall take away innocent blood from amongst you, if you should do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord your God.

So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

10 And if when you go out to war against your enemies, the Lord your God should deliver them into your hands, and you should take their spoil,

When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,

11 and should see amongst the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, and should desire her, and take her to yourself for a wife,

if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,

12 and should bring her within your house: then shall you shave her head, and pare her nails;

then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,

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

and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

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

And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

15 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 firstborn;

If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,

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

when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.

17 But he shall acknowledge the firstborn 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.

Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

18 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 listen to them;

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

19 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:

his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

20 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.

and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

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

Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

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

If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

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

you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.