⁹ and he gave them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them on the mountain before the Lord, and the seven of them perished together. They were put to death in the first days of harvest, ^(A)at the beginning of barley harvest.

²² So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabite her daughter-in-law with her, who returned from the country of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem ^(A)at the beginning of barley harvest.

³ Surely this came upon Judah at the command of the Lord, to remove them out of his sight, ^(A)for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, ⁴ and also ^(B)for the innocent blood that he had shed. For he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord would not pardon.

⁶ let seven of his sons be given to us, so that we may hang them before the Lord at ^(A)Gibeah of Saul, ^(B)the chosen of the Lord.” And the king said, “I will give them.”

²¹ And David said to Michal, “It was before the Lord, ^(A)who chose me above your father and above all his house, to appoint me as prince^[a] over Israel, the people of the Lord—and I will celebrate before the Lord.

¹⁷ And they brought in the ark of the Lord and set it ^(A)in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it. ^(B)And David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

³³ And Samuel said, ^(A)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^(B)in Gilgal.

Atonement for Unsolved Murders

21 “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, ² then your elders and your judges shall come out, and they shall measure the distance to the surrounding cities. ³ And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer ^(A)that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke. ⁴ 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. ⁵ Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen ^(B)them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and ^(C)by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man ^(D)shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷ and they shall testify, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it shed. ⁸ Accept atonement, O Lord, for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and ^(E)do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.’ ⁹ So ^(F)you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

³¹ Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. ³² And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³ You shall not ^(A)pollute the land in which you live, for blood ^(B)pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ^(C)by the blood of the one who shed it. ^34 (D)You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, ^(E)for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”