Deuteronomii 21

1 Quando inventum fuerit in terra, quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi, hominis cadaver occisi, et ignorabitur cædis reus,

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;

2 egredientur majores natu, et judices tui, et metientur a loco cadaveris singularum per circuitum spatia civitatum:

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

3 et quam viciniorem ceteris esse perspexerint, seniores civitatis illius tollent vitulam de armento, quæ non traxit jugum, nec terram scidit vomere,

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.

4 et ducent eam ad vallem asperam atque saxosam, quæ numquam arata est, nec sementem recepit: et cædent in ea cervices vitulæ:

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.

5 accedentque sacerdotes filii Levi, quos elegerit Dominus Deus tuus ut ministrent ei, et benedicant in nomine ejus, et ad verbum eorum omne negotium, et quidquid mundum, vel immundum est, judicetur.

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.

6 Et venient majores natu civitatis illius ad interfectum, lavabuntque manus suas super vitulam, quæ in valle percussa est,

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;

7 et dicent: Manus nostræ non effuderunt sanguinem hunc, nec oculi viderunt:

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

8 propitius esto populo tuo Israël, quem redemisti, Domine, et ne reputes sanguinem innocentem in medio populi tui Israël. Et auferetur ab eis reatus sanguinis:

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.

9 tu autem alienus eris ab innocentis cruore, qui fusus est, cum feceris quod præcepit Dominus.

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

10 Si egressus fueris ad pugnam contra inimicos tuos, et tradiderit eos Dominus Deus tuus in manu tua, captivosque duxeris,

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,

11 et videris in numero captivorum mulierem pulchram, et adamaveris eam, voluerisque habere uxorem,

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,

12 introduces eam in domum tuam: quæ radet cæsariem, et circumcidet ungues,

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

13 et deponet vestem, in qua capta est: sedensque in domo tua, flebit patrem et matrem suam uno mense: et postea intrabis ad eam, dormiesque cum illa, et erit uxor tua.

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.

14 Si autem postea non sederit animo tuo, dimittes eam liberam, nec vendere poteris pecunia, nec opprimere per potentiam: quia humiliasti eam.

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.

15 Si habuerit homo uxores duas, unam dilectam, et alteram odiosam, genuerintque ex eo liberos, et fuerit filius odiosæ primogenitus,

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,

16 volueritque substantiam inter filios suos dividere, non poterit filium dilectæ facere primogenitum, et præferre filio odiosæ:

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.

17 sed filium odiosæ agnoscet primogenitum, dabitque ei de his quæ habuerit cuncta duplicia: iste est enim principium liberorum ejus, et huic debentur primogenita.

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.

18 Si genuerit homo filium contumacem et protervum, qui non audiat patris aut matris imperium, et coërcitus obedire contempserit:

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;

19 apprehendent eum, et ducent ad seniores civitatis illius, et ad portam judicii,

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.

20 dicentque ad eos: Filius noster iste protervus et contumax est: monita nostra audire contemnit, comessationibus vacat, et luxuriæ atque conviviis:

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.'

21 lapidibus eum obruet populus civitatis, et morietur, ut auferatis malum de medio vestri, et universus Israël audiens pertimescat.

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.

22 Quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est, et adjudicatus morti appensus fuerit in patibulo:

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

23 non permanebit cadaver ejus in ligno, sed in eadem die sepelietur: quia maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno: et nequaquam contaminabis terram tuam, quam Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi in possessionem.

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.