1 “ If a person has been killed and is found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you for your own and it is not known who killed him,

¶ When one is found dead in the land which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him,

2 t hen your leaders and judges will go out and see how far it is to the cities that are around the dead man.

then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is dead;

3 T he leaders of the city that is nearest to the dead man will take a young cow from the cattle. The cow must never have been worked or pulled a plow.

and it shall be that the elders of the city which is next unto the dead man shall take a heifer, which has not served, and which has not drawn in the yoke;

4 T he leaders of that city will bring the young cow down to a valley with flowing water, which has not been plowed or planted. They will break the cow’s neck there in the valley.

and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which has neither been plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

5 T hen the religious leaders, the sons of Levi, will come near for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bring good in the name of the Lord. Every question about what is right and every fight will be decided upon by them.

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for the LORD thy God has chosen them to minister unto him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be determined.

6 A ll the leaders of that city nearest to the dead man will wash their hands over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley.

And all the elders of that closest city next to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley.

7 T hen they will say, ‘Our hands have not killed him. Our eyes have not seen it.

And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

8 O Lord, forgive Your people Israel whom You have set free. Do not put the guilt of killing a man who did no wrong on Your people Israel.’ And they will be forgiven from the guilt of the man’s death.

Reconcile thy people Israel, whom thou hast ransomed, O LORD, and impute not the innocent blood shed in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

9 S o you must take away the guilt of taking the life of a good man by doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Marrying a Woman Taken in Battle

So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

10 “ When you go out to battle against those who hate you, and the Lord your God gives them to you, and you make them go with you,

¶ When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God has delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,

11 a nd you see a beautiful woman and have a desire for her as a wife,

and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her that thou would have her to thy wife,

12 b ring her home to your house. There she will cut off all the hair from her head and cut her nails.

then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her head and pare her nails,

13 S he will change the clothes she wore when you took her away, and stay in your house. She will have sorrow for her father and mother for one month. After that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife.

and she shall put off the clothing of her captivity and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month, and after that thou shalt go in unto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14 I f you are not pleased with her, you should let her go wherever she wants. But do not sell her for money or act as if she were a servant because you have put her to shame.

And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go free, but thou shalt not sell her at all for money; thou shalt not make merchandise of her because thou hast humbled her.

15 “ If a man has two wives, one loved and the other not loved, and both the loved and the one not loved have borne him sons, and if the first-born son belongs to the wife who is not loved,

¶ When a man has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they have born him sons, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son is of the one that was hated,

16 o n the day when the man divides what he has for his sons, he cannot make the first-born of his loved wife the first-born before the son of the wife who is not loved, who is the first-born.

then it shall be, when he makes his sons to inherit that which he has, that he may not give the right of the firstborn unto the son of the beloved in preference over the son of the hated, who is indeed the firstborn;

17 H e must respect the first-born, the son of the wife who is not loved, by giving him twice the share of all he has. He is the beginning of his strength and the right of the first-born belongs to him.

but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

18 “ If a man has a strong-willed son who goes against him and does not obey his father or mother and when they punish him he will not even listen to them,

¶ When anyone has a stubborn and rebellious son, who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother and when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them,

19 t hen his father and mother will take hold of him and bring him to the leaders of his city at the gate of his city.

then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place;

20 T hey will say to the leaders of his city, ‘This son of ours is strong-willed and goes against us. He will not obey us. He eats and drinks too much.’

and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not hear our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.

21 T hen all the men of his city will kill him with stones. You must get rid of the sin from among you. All Israel will hear about it and be afraid.

Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear and fear.

22 “ If a man has sinned and should be put to death and he is put to death and you hang him on a tree,

And when a man shall have committed a sin worthy of death, and he is to be put to death, and thou shall have hung him on a tree,

23 h is body must not hang all night on the tree. You should be sure to bury him on the same day (for he who hangs is cursed by God). So do not make your land unclean which the Lord your God is giving you.

his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt without fail bury him that same day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God) that thy land not be defiled, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance.