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 be found slain in the land which YHWH thy Elohim giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

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

Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

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.

And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

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.

And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:

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 near; for them YHWH thy Elohim hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of YHWH; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

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;

And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:

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

And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen 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.

Be merciful, O YHWH, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

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

So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of YHWH.

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 thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and YHWH thy Elohim hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,

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

And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

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

Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare 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 she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy 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 it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled 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 have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:

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.

Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:

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.

But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

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 have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

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:

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

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 they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; 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.

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

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

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him 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.

His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of Elohim; ) that thy land be not defiled, which YHWH thy Elohim giveth thee for an inheritance.