| English Standard Version | Christian Standard 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, | 1"If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land 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 are to come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby 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. | 3The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not 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. | 4The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will 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. | 5Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve him and pronounce blessings in his name, and they are 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, | 6All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken. |
| 7and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. | 7They will declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not 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.’ | 8LORD, wipe away the guilt of your people Israel whom you redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.' Then the responsibility for bloodshed will be wiped away from them. |
| 9So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. | 9You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, for you will be doing what is right in the LORD's sight. |
| 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, | 10"When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God hands them over to you and you take some of them prisoner, and |
| 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 the captives, 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. | 12you are to bring her into your house. She is to 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. | 13remove the clothes she was wearing when she was taken prisoner, live in your house, and mourn for her father and mother a full month. After that, you may have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will 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. | 14Then if you are not satisfied with her, you are to let her go where she wants, but you must not sell her or treat her as merchandise, because you have humiliated 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, | 15"If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved bear him sons, and if 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 gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved wife as his firstborn over the firstborn 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. | 17He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him two shares of his estate, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn. |
| 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, | 18"If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn't listen to them even after they discipline him, |
| 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 take 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.’ | 20They will say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn't obey us. He's 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. You must purge the evil from 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, | 22"If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and 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 are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land 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 Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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