Deuteronomy 21

1 If someone is found killed in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who has attacked him;

If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death:

2 then your elders and your judges must go out, and they must measure to the cities that are around him who has been killed.

Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured;

3 Then the elders of the town nearest to the dead man's body must take a heifer from the herd, one that has never been put to work, and that has not borne the yoke.

And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke;

4 Then they must lead the heifer down to a valley with running water, a valley that has been neither plowed nor sown, and there in the valley they must break the heifer's neck.

And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken:

5 The priests, descendants of Levi, must come forward, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to serve him and give blessing in the name of Yahweh and to decide every case of dispute and assault by their word.

Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:

6 All the elders of the city that is the nearest to the killed man must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley,

7 and they must answer to the case and say, 'Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it.

8 Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not put guilt for innocent bloodshed in the midst of your people Israel.' Then the bloodshed will be forgiven them.

Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death.

9 In this way you will put away the innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh.

So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

10 When you go out to do battle against your enemies and Yahweh your God gives you victory and puts them under your control, and you take them away as captives,

When you go out to war against other nations, and the Lord your God gives them up into your hands and you take them as prisoners;

11 if you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have a desire for her and wish to take her for yourself as a wife,

If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife;

12 then you will bring her home to your house; she will shave her head and cut her nails.

Then take her back to your house; and let her hair and her nails be cut;

13 Then she will take off the clothes she was wearing when she was taken captive and she will remain in your house and mourn for her father and her mother a full month. After that you may sleep with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife.

And let her take off the dress in which she was made prisoner and go on living in your house and weeping for her father and mother for a full month: and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife.

14 But if you take no delight in her, then you may let her go where she wishes. But you must not sell her at all for money, and you must not treat her like a slave, because you have humiliated her.

But if you have no delight in her, you are to let her go wherever she will; you may not take a price for her as if she was your property, for you have made use of her for your pleasure.

15 If a man has two wives and one is loved and the other is hated, and they have both borne him children—both the beloved wife and the hated wife—if the firstborn son is of her that is hated,

If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife:

16 then on the day that the man causes his sons to inherit what he possesses, he may not make the son of the beloved wife the firstborn before the son of the hated wife, the son who is actually the firstborn.

Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife:

17 Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the hated wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he possesses; for that son is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.

18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, even though they correct him, will not listen to them;

If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment:

19 then his father and his mother must lay hold on him and bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his city.

Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place;

20 They must say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'

And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.

21 Then all the men of his city must stone him to death with stones; and you will remove the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and fear.

Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear.

22 If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree;

23 then his body must not remain all night on the tree. Instead, you must surely bury him the same day; for whoever is hanged is cursed by God. Obey this commandment so that you do not defile the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Do not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.