| English Standard Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1“If in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess someone is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him, | 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, |
| 2then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. | 2your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities. |
| 3And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. | 3Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work, |
| 4And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. | 4bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream. |
| 5Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. | 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. |
| 6And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, | 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 testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. | 7and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. |
| 8Accept atonement, O LORD, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ | 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 the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. | 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. |
| 10“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, | 10When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive, |
| 11and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, | 11if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife, |
| 12and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. | 12then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails, |
| 13And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. | 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. |
| 14But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her. | 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. |
| 15“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, | 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, |
| 16then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn, | 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. |
| 17but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his. | 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. |
| 18“If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, | 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, |
| 19then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, | 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 they shall say to 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.’ | 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 the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear. | 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. |
| 22“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, | 22If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, |
| 23his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance. | 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. |
| ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. |
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