Deuteronomy 21 Parallel Bible Translations

Deuteronomy 21 ▼
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1 “When you are in the land the LORD your God is giving you, someone may be found murdered in a field, and you don’t know who committed the murder. “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 In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns. 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 When the nearest town has been determined, that town’s elders must select from the herd a heifer that has never been trained or yoked to a plow. 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 They must lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and that has a stream running through it. There in the valley they must break the heifer’s neck. 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 Levitical priests must step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the LORD’s name. They are to decide all legal and criminal cases. 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 “The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was 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 Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen. 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 O LORD, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.’ Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person’s blood. 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 By following these instructions, you will do what is right in the LORD’s sight and will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community. 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 “Suppose you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD your God hands them over to you, and you take some of them as captives. “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 And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. 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 If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut 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 and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will 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 But if you marry her and she does not please you, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for 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 “Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love. “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 the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son. 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 recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the first son of his father’s virility, and the rights of the firstborn belong to him. 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 “Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though 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 In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 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 The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is 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 town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it 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 someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung 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 the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession. 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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