Marrying Female Captives

10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, 12 and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. 13 And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and (A)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. 14 But if you no longer delight in her, you shall (B)let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you (C)treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

15 “If a man has two wives, (D)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,[a] 16 then on the day when (E)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, 17 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 (F)the firstfruits of his strength. (G)The right of the firstborn is his.

A Rebellious Son

18 “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, 19 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, 20 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.’ 21 (H)Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. (I)So you shall purge the evil from your midst, (J)and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or hated; also verses 16, 17

Marrying a Captive Woman

10 When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands(A) and you take captives,(B) 11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful(C) woman and are attracted to her,(D) you may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head,(E) trim her nails 13 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,(F) then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 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.(G)

The Right of the Firstborn

15 If a man has two wives,(H) 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,(I) 16 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.(J) 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double(K) share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength.(L) The right of the firstborn belongs to him.(M)

A Rebellious Son

18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious(N) son(O) who does not obey his father and mother(P) and will not listen to them when they discipline him, 19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. 20 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 are to stone him to death.(Q) You must purge the evil(R) from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.(S)

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