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Deuteronomy 21
Expanded Bible

A Person Found Murdered

21 Suppose ·someone is found murdered [L a corpse], lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your ·own [possession], and no one knows who ·killed [L struck] the person. 2 Your elders and judges should go to where the ·body [L corpse] was found, and they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities. 3 The elders of the city nearest the body must take a ·young cow [heifer] that has never worked or ·worn [L pulled] a yoke, 4 and they must lead her down to a ·valley [wadi] that has never been plowed or planted, with a ·stream [wadi] flowing through it. There they must break the ·young cow’s [heifer’s] neck. 5 The priests, the sons of Levi, should come forward, because they have been chosen by the Lord your God to serve him and to give blessings in the Lord’s name. They are the ones who decide cases of ·quarreling [accusation] and attacks. 6 Then all the elders of the city nearest the ·murdered person [L corpse] should wash their hands over the ·young cow [heifer] whose neck was broken in the ·valley [wadi]. 7 They should declare: “·We did not kill this person [L Our hands did not spill this blood], and ·we [L our eyes] did not see it happen. 8 Lord, ·remove this sin from [make atonement for] your people Israel, whom you have ·saved [redeemed; ransomed]. Don’t ·blame your people, the Israelites, for the murder of this innocent person [L place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel].” And so the murder will be ·paid [atoned] for. 9 Then you will have ·removed [banished; purged] from yourselves the guilt of ·murdering an innocent person [innocent blood], because you will be doing what ·the Lord says is right [L is right/virtuous in the eyes of the Lord].

Captive Women as Wives

10 When you go to war against your enemies, the Lord will ·help you defeat them [L give them into your hands] so you will take them captive. 11 If you see a beautiful woman among the captives and ·are attracted to [desire; fall in love with] her, you may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home, where she must shave her head and cut her nails 13 and change the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. After she has lived in your house and cried for her ·parents [L father and her mother] for a month, you may marry her. You will be her husband, and she will be your wife. 14 But if you are not pleased with her, you must let her go anywhere she wants. You must not sell her for money or make her a slave, because you have ·taken away her honor [humiliated; exploited her].

The Oldest Son

15 A man might have two wives, one he loves and one he ·doesn’t [L hates; dislikes]. Both wives might have sons by him. If the ·older son [firstborn] belongs to the wife he ·does not love [L hates; dislikes], 16 when that man wills his property to his sons he must not give the son of the wife he loves what belongs to the ·older [firstborn] son, the son of the wife he ·does not love [L hates; dislikes]. 17 He must agree to give the ·older son [firstborn] two shares of everything he owns, even though the ·older son [firstborn] is from the wife he does ·not love [L hates; dislikes]. That son was the first ·to prove his father could have children [L of his virility], so he has the rights that belong to the ·older son [firstborn].

Sons Who Refuse to Obey

18 If someone has a son who is stubborn, who ·turns [rebels] against his father and mother and doesn’t obey them or listen when they ·correct [discipline] him, 19 his ·parents [L mother and his father] must ·take [grab] him to the elders at the city gate [Ex. 21:15; Lev. 20:9]. 20 They will say to the elders, “Our son is stubborn and ·turns [rebels] against us. He will not obey us. He ·eats too much [is a glutton], and he is ·always drunk [a drunk].” 21 Then all the men in his town must ·throw stones at [stone] him until he dies. ·Get rid of [Banish; Purge] the evil among you, because then all the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.

Other Laws

22 If someone is guilty of a sin worthy of death, he must be put to death and his body ·displayed [hung] on a tree. 23 But don’t leave his body hanging on the tree overnight; be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God [Matt. 27:57–58; Gal. 3:13]. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you as your ·own [L inheritance].

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Deuteronomy 21
New American Standard Bible

Expiation of a Crime

21 “If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to [a]possess, and it is not known who struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the one who was killed. 3 And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the person killed, that is, that the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked [b]and 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 has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then (A)the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and [c]violent crime shall be [d]settled by them. 6 And all the elders of that city [e]which is nearest to the person killed shall (B)wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did. 8 [f]Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, Lord, and do not place the guilt for (C)innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the guilt for bloodshed shall be [g]forgiven them. 9 (D)So you shall remove the guilt for innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Domestic Relations

10 “When you go out to battle against your enemies, and (E)the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them away captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and are strongly attracted to her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her into your home, and she shall (F)shave her head and [h]trim her nails. 13 She shall also [i]remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and (G)weep for her father and mother a full month; and after that you may have relations with her and become her husband and she shall be your wife. 14 But it shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go [j]wherever she wishes; and you certainly shall not sell her for money, you shall not treat her as merchandise, since you have [k](H)humiliated her.

15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and (I)the other [l]unloved, and both the loved and the [m]unloved have borne him sons, and the firstborn son belongs to the [n]unloved, 16 then it shall be on the day that he wills what he owns as an inheritance to his sons, he is not allowed to treat the son of the loved wife as the firstborn, [o]at the expense of the son of the [p]unloved, who actually is the firstborn son. 17 On the contrary, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the [q]unloved wife, by giving him a double [r]portion of everything that [s]he owns, for he was the (J)beginning of his [t]strength; (K)to him belongs the right of the firstborn.

18 “If any person has a stubborn and rebellious son who does (L)not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he does not listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city [u]at the gateway of his hometown. 20 And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us, he is thoughtless and given to drinking.’ 21 (M)Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so (N)you shall eliminate the evil from your midst, and (O)all Israel will hear about it and fear.

22 “Now if [v]a person has committed a sin carrying (P)a sentence of death and he is put to death, and you hang him on [w]a tree, 23 (Q)his body is not to be left overnight on the [x]tree, but you shall certainly bury him on the same day (for (R)he who is hanged is cursed of God), so that you (S)do not defile your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 21:1 Lit possess it
  2. Deuteronomy 21:3 Lit which has not
  3. Deuteronomy 21:5 Lit blow
  4. Deuteronomy 21:5 Lit according to their mouth
  5. Deuteronomy 21:6 Lit who are
  6. Deuteronomy 21:8 Lit Cover over, atone for
  7. Deuteronomy 21:8 Lit covered over, atoned for
  8. Deuteronomy 21:12 Lit do
  9. Deuteronomy 21:13 Lit remove from her
  10. Deuteronomy 21:14 Lit according to her soul
  11. Deuteronomy 21:14 I.e., by a forced marriage
  12. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or scorned; lit hated
  13. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or scorned; lit hated
  14. Deuteronomy 21:15 Or scorned; lit hated
  15. Deuteronomy 21:16 Lit against the face of
  16. Deuteronomy 21:16 See note v 15
  17. Deuteronomy 21:17 See note v 15
  18. Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit mouthful
  19. Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit is found with him
  20. Deuteronomy 21:17 I.e., power of procreation
  21. Deuteronomy 21:19 Lit and to the gate of his place
  22. Deuteronomy 21:22 Lit a sin is in a person carrying
  23. Deuteronomy 21:22 Lit wood
  24. Deuteronomy 21:23 Lit wood
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Deuteronomy 20
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