Deuteronomy 21 Parallel Bible Translations

Deuteronomy 21
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Christian Standard Bible
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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, “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, 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,
2 your elders and judges are to come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities. then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.
3 The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work. And 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. Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke
4 The 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. And 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. 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 Then 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. Then 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. The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.
6 All 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. And 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, Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
7 They will declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see it. and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.
8 LORD, 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. Accept 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.’ 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,
9 You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, for you will be doing what is right in the LORD’s sight. So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD. and you will have purged 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 hands them over to you and you take some of them prisoner, and “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives,
11 if you see a beautiful woman among the captives, desire her, and want to take her as your wife, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.
12 you are to bring her into your house. She is to shave her head, trim her nails, and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails
13 remove 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. And 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. 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, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
14 Then 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. But 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. 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.
15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other neglected, and both the loved and the neglected bear him sons, and if the neglected wife has the firstborn son, “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, If a man has two wives, 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,
16 when 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 neglected wife. then 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, 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.
17 He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the neglected wife, by giving him two shares of his estate, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn. but 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. He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign 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 or mother and doesn’t listen to them even after they discipline him, “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, If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,
19 his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown. then 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, his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
20 They 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.’ and 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.’ 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 city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid. Then 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. Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
22 “If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole,
23 you 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. his 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. you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
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