Deuteronomy 21

1 Someone may be found murdered, lying in a field in the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own, and nobody knows who killed them.

When there shall be found one slain on the soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee to possess, lying prostrate in the field, —it not being known who smote him,

2 Your elders and judges must come and measure the distance from the body to the surrounding towns.

then shall thine elders and thy judges go forth, —and measure unto the cities that are round about the slain;

3 Then the elders of the town that's found to be nearest to the body shall take a cow that has never been put under a yoke or used for work.

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

4 Take the cow to a valley that has a stream running through it and whose ground has never been plowed or sown. Break the cow's neck there beside the stream.

and the elders of that city shall take down the heifer into a ravine with an everflowing stream, which is neither tilled nor sown, —and shall behead there the heifer in the ravine.

5 The Levitical priests must be there too, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to give blessings in his name, and to decide on legal disputes and cases of assault.

Then shall the priests the sons of Levi come near, for of them, hath Yahweh thy God made choice to wait upon him, and to bless in the name of Yahweh, —and at their bidding, shall be settled every controversy and every punishment;

6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body are to wash their hands in the stream over the dead cow, saying,

and, all the elders of that city who are nearest unto the slain, shall bathe their hands over the heifer that hath been beheaded in the ravine,

7 “We had nothing to do with this murder, and we didn't see who did it.

and shall respond, and say, —Our hands, shed not this blood, neither did, our eyes, see [the deed].

8 Lord, please forgive your people Israel who you rescued, and do not hold them guilty of shedding of innocent blood In this way the guilt for shedding blood will be forgiven.”

Be propitious unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not impute innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel. So shall they obtain propitiation for the guilt of shedding blood.

9 This is how you are to remove from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the Lord's sight.

Thou, therefore shalt consume the guilt of shedding innocent blood out of thy midst, —when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

10 When you go to war with your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you in defeat, and you capture them,

When thou shalt go forth to war against thine enemies, —and Yahweh thy God shall deliver them into thy hand and thou shalt take them captive;

11 you may see that one of them is a beautiful woman who you like and want to marry.

and shalt see among the captives a woman of beautiful figure, —and shalt have a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife,

12 Take her home and have her shave her head, cut her nails,

then shalt thou bring her into the midst of thy house, —and she shall shave her head and pare her nails;

13 and get rid of the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. After she has lived in your home and has finished her month of mourning for her father and mother, you may sleep with her and marry her, and she shall be your wife.

and put away the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother for the space of a month, —and after that, mayest thou go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14 However, if you are not happy with her, you must let her leave and go wherever she wants. You are not allowed to sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you have brought shame on her.

And it shall be, if thou hast no pleasure in her, then shalt thou let her go whither she will but thou shalt not sell, her for silver, —thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

15 If a man has two wives, one he loves and one he doesn't, and both have sons by him, but the firstborn son is from the wife he doesn't love,

When a man shall have two wives—the one beloved and, the other hated, and they have borne him sons, both she that is beloved, and she that is hated, —and it shall be that the firstborn son belongeth to her that is hated,

16 when the time comes for the man to decide what each son will inherit from him, he must not prefer the son of wife he loves and treat him as the firstborn instead of the son of the wife he doesn't love.

then shall it be, that in the day when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, he may not treat the son of the beloved, instead of the son of the hated, as the firstborn;

17 No. He is to recognize the firstborn, the son of the wife he doesn't love through the usual custom of giving him a double portion of all that he owns. The firstborn son is the firstfruits of his father's strength, and so the rights of the firstborn are his.

but the true firstborn the son of her that is hated, shall he treat as firstborn by giving him double out of all that is found to be his, —for, he, is the beginning of his strength, his, is the right of the firstborn.

18 If someone has a obstinate and rebellious son who doesn't obey his parents and doesn't obey them even when he's punished,

When a man hath a son, rebellious and insulting, who will not hearken to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, —though they chastise him, yet will not hearken unto them,

19 his parents must take him to the town elders, to the court in his hometown,

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

20 and tell them, “Our son is obstinate and rebellious, He doesn't obey us. He's a worthless drunk!”

and shall say unto the elders of his city: This our son, is rebellious and insulting, —he will not hearken unto our voice, —a glutton and a tippler.

21 Then all the men of his home town will stone him to death. You must eliminate the evil from among you, and every Israelite will hear about it and be afraid.

Then shall all the men of his city stone him with stones that he die, so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst, —and, all Israel, shall hear and fear.

22 If someone commits a crime punishable by death, and the person is executed by hanging on a tree,

But when there shall be in any man a sin worthy of death and he is to be put to death, —and thou shalt hang him on a tree,

23 don't leave the body hanging there overnight. Make sure you bury the body the same day, because anyone who is hung is under God's curse. Don't defile the country that the Lord your God is giving you to own.

his dead body shall not remain all night upon the tree but thou shalt bury, him on the same day, for a reproach unto God, is he that is hanged, —so shalt thou not make unclean thy soil which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee for an inheritance.