Deuteronomy 21

¹If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him;

²then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

³and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

⁴and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

⁵And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be.

⁶And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

⁷and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

⁸Forgive, O Jehovah, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

⁹So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

¹⁰When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou carriest them away captive,

¹¹and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife;

¹²then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

¹³and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy 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.

¹⁴And 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 deal with her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated;

¹⁶then it shall be, in the day that he causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born before the son of the hated, who is the first-born:

¹⁷but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.

¹⁸If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them;

¹⁹then 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;

²⁰and 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.

²¹And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

²²And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree;

²³his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

Deuteronomy 21

¹If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

²your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.

³Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

⁴bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.

⁵And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

⁶Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

⁷and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

⁸Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

⁹So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

¹⁰When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,

¹¹if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,

¹²then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,

¹³and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

¹⁴And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

¹⁵If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,

¹⁶when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.

¹⁷Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

¹⁸If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

¹⁹his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

²⁰and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

²¹Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

²²If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

²³you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.