21:1 And if one be found slain with the 
    sword in the land, which Yehovah thy Elohim gives thee to inherit, having 
    fallen in the field, and they do not know who has smitten [him]; 
     
    21:2 thine elders and thy judges shall come forth, and shall measure the 
    distances of the cities round about the slain man: 
     
    21:3 and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the 
    elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured, 
    and which has not borne a yoke.  
     
    21:4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough 
    valley, which has not been tilled and is not sown, and they shall slay the 
    heifer in the valley.  
     
    21:5 And the priests the Levites shall come, because Yehovah Elohim has chosen 
    them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall 
    every controversy and every stroke be [decided].  
     
    21:6 And all the elders of that city who draw nigh to the slain man shall 
    wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain in the valley; 
     
    21:7 and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and 
    our eyes have not seen [it]. 
     
    21:8 Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, that 
    innocent blood may not be charged on thy people Israel: and the blood shall 
    be atoned for to them.  
     
    21:9 And thou shalt take away innocent blood from among you, if thou 
    shouldest do that which is good and pleasing before Yehovah thy Elohim. 
     
    21:10 And if when thou goest out to war against thine enemies, Yehovah thy 
    Elohim should deliver them into thine hands, and thou shouldest take their 
    spoil, 
     
    21:11 and shouldest see among the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance, 
    and shouldest desire her, and take her to thyself for a wife,  
     
    21:12 and shouldest bring her within thine house: then shalt thou shave her 
    head, and pare her nails; 
     
    21:13 and shalt take away her garments of captivity from off her, and she 
    shall abide in thine house, and shall bewail her father and mother the days 
    of a month; and afterwards thou shalt go in to her and dwell with her, and 
    she shall be thy wife. 
     
    21:14 And it shall be if thou do not delight in her, thou shalt send her out 
    free; and she shall not by any means be sold for money, thou shalt not treat 
    her contemptuously, because thou hast humbled her. 
     
    21:15 And if a man have two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and 
    both the loved and the hated should have born him [children], and the son of 
    the hated should be first-born;  
     
    21:16 then I shall be that whensoever he shall divide by inheritance his 
    goods to his sons, he shall not be able to give the right of the first-born 
    to the son of the loved one, having overlooked the son of the hated, which 
    is the first-born. 
     
    21:17 But he shall acknowledge the first-born of the hated one to give to 
    him double of all things which shall be found by him, because he is the 
    first of his children, and to him belongs the birthright.  
     
    21:18 And if any man has a disobedient and contentious son, who hearkens not 
    to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they should 
    correct him, and he should not hearken to them; 
     
    21:19 then shall his father and his mother take hold of him, and bring him 
    forth to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the place: 
     
    21:20 and they shall say to the men of their city, This our son is 
    disobedient and contentious, he hearkens not to our voice, he is a reveler 
    and a drunkard. 
     
    21:21 And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die; 
    and thou shalt remove the evil one from yourselves, and the rest shall hear 
    and fear. 
     
    21:22 And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgment of death [be upon 
    him], and he be put to death, and ye hang him on a tree: 
     
    21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but ye shall by all 
    means bury it in that day; for every one that is hanged on a tree is cursed 
    of Elohim; and ye shall by no means defile the land which Yehovah thy Elohim 
    gives thee for an inheritance.  | 
    21:1 If one be found slain in the land which 
    Yehovah thy Elohim giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be 
    not known who hath slain him: 
     
    21:2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure 
    unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 
     
    21:3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even 
    the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought 
    with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 
     
    21:4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough 
    valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's 
    neck there in the valley: 
     
    21:5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Yehovah thy 
    Elohim hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Yehovah; 
    and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried: 
     
    21:6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, 
    shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley: 
     
    21:7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, 
    neither have our eyes seen it. 
     
    21:8 Be merciful, O Yehovah, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, 
    and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood 
    shall be forgiven them. 
     
    21:9 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 Yehovah. 
     
    21:10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and Yehovah thy 
    Elohim hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, 
     
    21:11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto 
    her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; 
     
    21:12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her 
    head, and pare her nails; 
     
    21:13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, 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. 
     
    21:14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let 
    her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou 
    shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her. 
     
    21:15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have 
    born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son 
    be hers that was hated: 
     
    21:16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he 
    hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son 
    of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn: 
     
    21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by 
    giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of 
    his strength; the right of the firstborn is his. 
     
    21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the 
    voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have 
    chastened him, will not hearken unto them: 
     
    21:19 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; 
     
    21:20 And they shall say unto 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. 
     
    21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: 
    so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and 
    fear. 
     
    21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put 
    to death, and thou hang him on a tree: 
     
    21:23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in 
    any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of Elohim;) that 
    thy land be not defiled, which Yehovah thy Elohim giveth thee for an 
    inheritance.  |