Deuteronomy 21
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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 fallen in the open country of the land that the LORD your God is about to give 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.2then let your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the dead body 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 body are to take a heifer that hasn't been put to work or hasn't pulled a yoke
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.4and are to lead the heifer to a flowing stream in a valley that has never been tilled or planted. They are to break the heifer's neck there.
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 of the sons of Levi are to step forward, because the LORD your God chose them to serve and pronounce blessings in his name. Every case of dispute and assault is to be subject to their ruling.
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 the dead body are to wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
7and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed.7and they are to make this declaration: 'Our hands didn't shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to the crime.
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.’8Make atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and don't charge the blood of an innocent man against them.' Then the blood shed 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.9This is how you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right in the sight 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,10"If you go to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your control, you may take some prisoners captive.
11and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife,11If you see among the prisoners a beautiful woman and you desire her, then you may take her as your wife.
12and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails.12Bring her to your house, but shave her head and 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 her prisoner's clothing and let her remain for a month in your house, mourning her parents. After that, you may become her husband and she is to become 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.14If you aren't pleased with her and you send her away, you must not sell her for money or mistreat her, since you will 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,15"If a man has two wives where one is loved but the other is unloved, and both of them bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife,
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,16then when he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, he must not give preference to the firstborn of the beloved wife 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.17Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn of the unloved wife by giving him double of everything he owns, because he is really the first fruit 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,18"If a man has a stubborn son who does not obey his parents, and although they try to discipline him, he still refuses to pay attention to them,
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,19then his parents are to seize him and bring him before the elders at the gate of his city.
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.’20Then they are to declare to the elders of their city: 'Our son is stubborn and rebellious. He does not obey us. He lives wildly and is 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 are to stone him with stones so that he dies. This is how you will remove this evil from among you. Then all Israel will hear of it and will 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 a man is guilty of a capital offense, is executed, and then is impaled 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.23his body must not remain overnight on the tree. You must bury him that same day, because cursed of God is the one who has been hanged on a tree. Don't defile your land that the LORD is about to give you as your 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 Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
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Deuteronomy 20
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