21 In the land that the Lord your God is giving to you, you may find someone's dead body lying in a field. Someone has killed him but you do not know who the murderer is. 2 Your leaders and your judges must then go to the field. They must measure how far the place is from the nearest towns. 3 Then the leaders from the town that is nearest to the body must take a young cow that has never done work on a farm. 4 They must lead the cow down to a valley where no one has ploughed the ground or planted seed. There must be a stream of water in the valley. There they must break the cow's neck.
5 The Levite priests must go there too. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and to ask him to bless his people. They also decide as judges what is right. 6 After the leaders of the town have broken the cow's neck, they must wash their hands over it. [ a ]
7 Then they will say, ‘We did not kill this person. We did not see who killed him. 8 Please Lord , accept this animal from your people, Israel, that you have rescued. Do not say that we are guilty of this murder. This person did not deserve to die like this.’
When they do that, the Lord will accept their gift and he will forgive you. 9 In this way, you will not be guilty of the murder. You will remove this evil act from among you. You must do what the Lord says is right.
10 When you go to fight a battle against your enemies, the Lord your God will give you power over them. You will take some of them as prisoners. 11 You may see among them a beautiful woman that you want to take as your wife. 12 Then you must bring her into your home. She must cut the hair off her head. She must cut her fingernails. [ b ] 13 She must change the clothes that she was wearing when you found her. Let her live in your house and weep for her parents for a whole month. Then you may have sex with her. You will be her husband and she will be your wife. 14 Later, you may not be pleased with her. If so, you must let her go wherever she wants. You must never sell her or make her become a slave. You must not do that, because you have made her have sex with you, as your wife.
15 A man may have two wives, but he may love only one of them. Each wife may give birth to a son. The firstborn son may be the son of the wife that he does not love. 16 But when the man shares his things with his children, he must promise this: After his death, the firstborn son will receive what he should have. The man may not choose to give the double share of his things to the son of the wife that he loves. 17 He must recognize that his firstborn son is the son of the wife that he does not love. This son was the first son born to that man. So he must receive the double share of his father's things. That is what God's Law says must happen. [ c ]
18 Perhaps a man has a son who refuses to obey his parents. They punish him to teach him what is right, but he refuses to listen to them. 19 If so, his parents must take their son to the leaders at the city gate. 20 They must say to the leaders, ‘This is our son. He refuses to obey us. He does not do what we tell him. He only wants to do what will please himself. He drinks too much and he becomes drunk.’
21 Then all the men of the city must throw stones at the son until he is dead. In this way, you must remove all evil things like that from among you. Then all Israel's people will hear about what has happened. They will be afraid.
22 A person may do an evil thing so that you punish him with death. If you have hung his dead body on a tree, 23 you must not leave it there during the night. Be careful to bury it on the same day that he died. If someone's body is hanging on a tree, it shows that God has cursed him. So do not leave it there. The Lord your God is giving the land to you so that it belongs to you. So do not let evil things spoil your land.
21 “In the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you might find a dead body in a field, but no one knows who killed that person. 2 Your leaders and judges must come out and measure the distance to the towns around the dead body. 3 When you learn which town is nearest to the dead body, the leaders of that town must take a cow from their herds. It must be a cow that never had a calf and that has never been used for work. 4 The leaders of that town must then bring the cow down to a valley with running water. It must be a valley that has never been plowed or had anything planted in it. Then the leaders must break the cow’s neck there in that valley. 5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, must also go there. (The Lord your God has chosen these priests to serve him and to bless people in the name of the Lord . The priests will decide who is right in every lawsuit and whenever someone is hurt.) 6 All the leaders of the town nearest the dead body must wash their hands over the cow that had its neck broken in the valley. 7 These leaders must say, ‘We did not kill this person, and we did not see it happen. 8 Lord , you saved your people Israel. Now make us pure. Don’t blame us for killing an innocent person.’ In this way these men will not be blamed for killing an innocent person. 9 In this way you will remove that guilt from your group by doing what the Lord said.
10 “You might fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God might let you defeat them and take them as captives. 11 You might see a beautiful woman among the captives who you want to be your wife. 12 You must then bring her into your house where she will shave her head and cut her nails. 13 She must change her clothes and take off the clothes she was wearing when she was captured in war. She will stay in your house and be sad about losing her father and her mother for a full month. After that you may go to her to be her husband, and she will be your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her and choose to divorce her, set her free. You cannot sell her. You had sexual relations with her, so you must not treat her like a slave.
15 “A man might have two wives. He might love one wife more than the other. Both wives might have children for him, but the firstborn son might be from the wife he does not love. 16 When the man divides his property among his children, he cannot give the rights of the firstborn to the son of his favorite wife. 17 The man must accept the firstborn son from the wife he does not love. The man must give that son a double share of everything he owns because that son is his first child. The right of the firstborn belongs to that son.
18 “A man might have a son who is stubborn and refuses to obey. This son does not obey his father or mother. They punish the son, but he still refuses to listen to them. 19 His father and mother must then take him to the leaders of the town at the town meeting place. 20 They must say to the leaders of the town: ‘Our son is stubborn and refuses to obey. He does not do anything we tell him to do. He eats and he drinks too much.’ 21 Then the men in the town must kill the son with stones. By doing this you will remove this evil from your group. Everyone in Israel will hear about this and be afraid.
22 “A man might be guilty of a sin that must be punished by death. People might kill him and hang his body on a tree. 23 You must not let that body stay on the tree overnight. You must be sure to bury this man on the same day, because the one who hangs on a tree is cursed by God, and you must not let the land that the Lord your God is giving you become unclean.
21 If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:
2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley:
5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord ; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:
6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
8 Be merciful, O Lord , unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord .
10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine 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.
14 And 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 make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then 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;
20 And 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.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
21 “If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to [ a ] possess, and it is not known who struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the one who was killed. 3 And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the person killed, that is, that the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked [ b ] and has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then ( A ) the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord ; and every dispute and [ c ] violent crime shall be [ d ] settled by them. 6 And all the elders of that city [ e ] which is nearest to the person killed shall ( B ) wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did . 8 [ f ] Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, Lord , and do not place the guilt for ( C ) innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the guilt for bloodshed shall be [ g ] forgiven them. 9 ( D ) So you shall remove the guilt for innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord .
10 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and ( E ) the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them away captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and are strongly attracted to her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her into your home, and she shall ( F ) shave her head and [ h ] trim her nails. 13 She shall also [ i ] remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and ( G ) weep for her father and mother a full month; and after that you may have relations with her and become her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 But it shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go [ j ] wherever she wishes; and you certainly shall not sell her for money, you shall not treat her as merchandise, since you have [ k ] ( H ) humiliated her.
15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and ( I ) the other [ l ] unloved, and both the loved and the [ m ] unloved have borne him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the [ n ] unloved, 16 then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not allowed to treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, [ o ] at the expense of the son of the [ p ] unloved, who actually is the firstborn son . 17 On the contrary, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the [ q ] unloved wife , by giving him a double [ r ] portion of everything that [ s ] he owns, for he was the ( J ) beginning of his [ t ] strength; ( K ) to him belongs the right of the firstborn.
18 “If any person has a stubborn and rebellious son who does ( L ) not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he does not listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city [ u ] at the gateway of his hometown. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, he is thoughtless and given to drinking.’ 21 ( M ) Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so ( N ) you shall eliminate the evil from your midst, and ( O ) all Israel will hear about it and fear.
22 “Now if [ v ] a person has committed a sin carrying ( P ) a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on [ w ] a tree, 23 ( Q ) his body is not to be left overnight on the [ x ] tree, but you shall certainly bury him on the same day (for ( R ) he who is hanged is cursed of God), so that you ( S ) do not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
21 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was, ( A ) 2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke ( B ) 4 and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings ( C ) in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. ( D ) 6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands ( E ) over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord , and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for, ( F ) 9 and you will have purged ( G ) from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord .
10 When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands ( H ) and you take captives, ( I ) 11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful ( J ) woman and are attracted to her, ( K ) you may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, ( L ) trim her nails 13 and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, ( M ) then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her. ( N )
15 If a man has two wives, ( O ) and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love, ( P ) 16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love. ( Q ) 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double ( R ) share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. ( S ) The right of the firstborn belongs to him. ( T )
18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious ( U ) son ( V ) who does not obey his father and mother ( W ) and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. ( X ) You must purge the evil ( Y ) from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid. ( Z )
22 If someone guilty of a capital offense ( AA ) is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, 23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. ( AB ) Be sure to bury ( AC ) it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. ( AD ) You must not desecrate ( AE ) the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.
