Deuteronomy 21

¹“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,

²your 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.

³And 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.

⁴And 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.

⁵And 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.

⁶And 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.

⁷And they shall say: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

⁸Be 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.

⁹Then you will be free from the blood that was shed against the innocent, when you will have done as the Lord has instructed you.

¹⁰If 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,

¹¹you see among the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and you love her, and you are willing to have her as a wife:

¹²then you shall lead her into your house. And she shall shave off her hair, and cut her nails short,

¹³and 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.

¹⁴But 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.

¹⁵If 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,

¹⁶and 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.

¹⁷Instead, 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.

¹⁸If 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:

¹⁹they shall take him and lead him to the elders of the city and to the gate of judgment.

²⁰And 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.’

²¹Then 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.

²²When 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:

²³his 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.”

Deuteronomy 21

¹When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

²Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:

³And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

⁴And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer:

⁵And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged.

⁶And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

⁷And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

⁸Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:

⁹And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

¹⁰If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,

¹¹And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,

¹²Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails,

¹³And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.

¹⁴But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the firstborn,

¹⁶And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before the son of the hated.

¹⁷But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.

¹⁸If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience:

¹⁹They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city, and to the gate of judgment,

²⁰And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:

²¹The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.

²²When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:

²³His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession.