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

¹`When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess itfallen in a fieldit is not known who hath smitten him,

²then have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which are round about the slain one,

³and it hath been, the city which is near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,

⁴and the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.

⁵`And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nighfor on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke

⁶and all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

⁷and they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen

⁸receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

⁹and thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

¹⁰`When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,

¹¹and hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,

¹²then thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,

¹³and turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a wife:

¹⁴`And it hath beenif thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵`When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;

¹⁶then it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated onethe first-born.

¹⁷But the first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him is the right of the first-born.

¹⁸`When a man hath a son apostatizing and rebellioushe is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth not hearken unto them

¹⁹then laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place,

²⁰and have said unto the elders of his city, Our sonthis oneis apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voicea glutton and drunkard;

²¹and all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do hear and fear.

²²`And when there is in a man a sina cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,

²³his corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that dayfor a thing lightly esteemed of God is the hanged oneand thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to theean inheritance.