1 ` When one is found slain on the ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it -- fallen in a field -- it is not known who hath smitten him,

“If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him,

2 t hen have thine elders and thy judges gone out and measured unto the cities which round about the slain one,

then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one.

3 a nd it hath been, the city which near unto the slain one, even the elders of that city have taken a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, which hath not drawn in the yoke,

It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;

4 a nd the elders of that city have brought down the heifer unto a hard valley, which is not tilled nor sown, and have beheaded there the heifer in the valley.

and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

5 ` And the priests, sons of Levi, have come nigh -- for on them hath Jehovah thy God fixed to serve Him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their mouth is every strife, and every stroke --

Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and every assault shall be settled by them.

6 a nd all the elders of that city, who are near unto the slain one, do wash their hands over the heifer which is beheaded in the valley,

All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

7 a nd they have answered and said, Our hands have not shed this blood, and our eyes have not seen --

and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

8 r eceive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them.

9 a nd thou dost put away the innocent blood out of thy midst, for thou dost that which right in the eyes of Jehovah.

So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord. Domestic Relations

10 ` When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God hath given them into thy hand, and thou hast taken captive its captivity,

“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive,

11 a nd hast seen in the captivity a woman of fair form, and hast delighted in her, and hast taken to thee for a wife,

and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself,

12 t hen thou hast brought her in unto the midst of thy household, and she hath shaved her head, and prepared her nails,

then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.

13 a nd turned aside the raiment of her captivity from off her, and hath dwelt in thy house, and bewailed her father and her mother a month of days, and afterwards thou dost go in unto her and hast married her, and she hath been to thee for a wife:

She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.

14 ` And it hath been -- if thou hast not delighted in her, that thou hast sent her away at her desire, and thou dost not at all sell her for money; thou dost not tyrannize over her, because that thou hast humbled her.

It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her, because you have humbled her.

15 ` When a man hath two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and they have borne to him sons (the loved one and the hated one), and the first-born son hath been to the hated one;

“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,

16 t hen it hath been, in the day of his causing his sons to inherit that which he hath, he is not able to declare first-born the son of the loved one, in the face of the son of the hated one -- the first-born.

then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn.

17 B ut the first-born, son of the hated one, he doth acknowledge, to give to him a double portion of all that is found with him, for he the beginning of his strength; to him the right of the first-born.

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 beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn.

18 ` When a man hath a son apostatizing and rebellious -- he is not hearkening to the voice of his father, and to the voice of his mother, and they have chastised him, and he doth not hearken unto them --

“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them,

19 t hen laid hold on him have his father and his mother, and they have brought him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place,

then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown.

20 a nd have said unto the elders of his city, Our son -- this one -- is apostatizing and rebellious; he is not hearkening to our voice -- a glutton and drunkard;

They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

21 a nd all the men of his city have stoned him with stones, and he hath died, and thou hast put away the evil out of thy midst, and all Israel do hear and fear.

Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.

22 ` And when there is in a man a sin -- a cause of death, and he hath been put to death, and thou hast hanged him on a tree,

“If a man has committed a sin worthy of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

23 h is corpse doth not remain on the tree, for thou dost certainly bury him in that day -- for a thing lightly esteemed of God the hanged one -- and thou dost not defile thy ground which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance.

his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance.