Deuteronomy 21

1 If 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,

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

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

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

5 And 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.

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

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

8 Accept 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.

9 So 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.

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

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

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

13 and 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.

14 And 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.

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

16 when 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.

17 Instead, 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.

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

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

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

21 Then 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.

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

23 you 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.

1 ¶ 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.

1 When a man is found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess, and he lieth in the field, and it is not known who slew him,

2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall go forth, and measure of the slain unto the cities that are round about.

3 Whichever city is next, the elders thereof shall take a young heifer of the oxen, that one hath not wrought, nor pulled at the yoke,

4 And they shall bring her down to a gravelly ground, which is neither wrought nor sown, and there shall cut off her neck at the bottom.

5 Then shall the priests come, the children of Levi: for the LORD thy God hath chosen them to minister unto him, and to praise his name: and after their mouth shall all things be done, and all hurt.

6 And all the elders of that city shall come near unto the slain, and wash their hands over the young heifer, whose neck is cut off at the bottom,

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

8 Be merciful unto thy people Israel, whom thou, O LORD, hast redeemed: lay not innocent blood upon thy people Israel. So shall they be reconciled above the blood.

9 So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from thee, that thou mayest do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

10 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God delivereth them into thine hand, that thou mayest carry away their captives,

11 And when thou seest a fair woman among the captives, thou hast a desire for her, that thou mayest take her to wife,

12 Bring her into thine house, and shave off her hair, and trim her nails.

13 And put off her garments wherein she is bound, and let her sit in thine house, and weep for her father and for her mother one moon; and afterward sleep with her, and take her in marriage, and let her be thy wife.

14 But if thou delight not in her, then thou shalt let her go whithersoever she goeth, and shalt not sell her for money, nor put her away, because thou hast humbled her.

15 If a man have two wives, the one whom he loveth, and the other whom he hateth, and they bear him children, both the loving and the adversary: the firstborn shall be of the adversary,

16 And when the time cometh for him to divide the inheritance unto his children, he cannot make the son of the beloved the firstborn son for the firstborn son of the hostile,

17 But he shall know the son of the hostile for the firstborn, that he may give him double all that is present: for he is his firstborn, and the right of the firstborn is his.

18 If a man have a wayward and disobedient son, which will not obey his father's voice, nor his mother's voice; and if they chasten him, he will not obey them,

19 Then his father and his mother shall take him, and bring him unto the elders of the city, and unto the gate of that place.

20 And say unto the elders of the city, This our son is wayward, and disobedient, and will not obey our voice, and is a glutton and a drunkard.

21 Then shall all the people of that city stone him, that he die: and thou shalt put away the wicked from thee, that all Israel may hear and fear.

22 If a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and be put to death by being hanged on a tree,

23 Then his body shall not remain upon the wood overnight, but thou shalt bury him that day: for he that is hanged is accursed with God, lest thou pollute thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.