Deuteronomy 21

1 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,

“When there will have been found in the land, which the Lord your God will give to you, the corpse of a man who has been killed, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

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

your judges and those greater by birth shall go out and measure, from the place of the corpse, the distance to each of the surrounding cities.

3 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;

And in whichever one they perceive to be closer than the others, the elders shall take a calf from the herd, one which has not pulled with a yoke, nor tilled with a plow.

4 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.

And they shall lead it into a rough and stony valley, one which has never been tilled or sown. And in that place, they shall cut the neck of the calf.

5 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;

And the priests the sons of Levi shall approach, those whom the Lord your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and to decide every controversy by their word, and to judge which things are clean and which are unclean.

6 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,

And those greater by birth of that city, nearest to the one who was slain, shall go and shall wash their hands over the calf that was killed in the valley.

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

And they shall say: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

8 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.

Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not charge them with innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.’ And so the guilt of the blood will be taken away from them.

9 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.

Then you will be free from the blood that was shed against the innocent, when you will have done as the Lord has instructed you.

10 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;

If you have gone out to fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand, and if, as you are leading away the captives,

11 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,

you see among the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and you love her, and you are willing to have her as a wife:

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

then you shall lead her into your house. And she shall shave off her hair, and cut her nails short,

13 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.

and remove the garment in which she was captured. And she shall sit in your house and weep for her father and mother, for one month. And after that, you shall enter to her and sleep with her, and she shall be your wife.

14 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.

But if afterwards she does not sit well in your mind, you shall set her free. You cannot sell her for money, nor can you oppress her by force. For you have humiliated her.

15 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,

If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they have produced children by him, and if the son of the hated wife is the firstborn,

16 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;

and if he wishes to divide his substance among his sons: he cannot make the son of the beloved wife the firstborn, and so prefer him before the son of the hated wife.

17 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.

Instead, he shall acknowledge the son of the hated wife as the firstborn, and he shall give to him a double portion of all that he has. For he is the first among his children, and the rights of the firstborn are owed to him.

18 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,

If a man produces a disobedient and reckless son, who will not listen to the orders of his father or mother, and, having been corrected, shows contempt for obedience:

19 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;

they shall take him and lead him to the elders of the city and to the gate of judgment.

20 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.

And they shall say to them: ‘This our son is reckless and disobedient. He shows contempt when listening to our admonitions. He occupies himself with carousing, and self-indulgence, and feasting.’

21 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.

Then the people of the city shall stone him to death. And he shall die, so that you may take away the evil from your midst. And so may all of Israel, upon hearing it, be very afraid.

22 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,

When a man will have sinned in a matter which is punished by death, and, having been judged unto death, he has been hanged on a gallows:

23 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.

his corpse shall not remain on the tree. Instead, he shall be buried on the same day. For he who hangs from a tree has been cursed by God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord your God will give to you as a possession.”