Deuteronomy 21
Legacy Standard Bible
Atonement for Innocent Blood
21 “If a slain person is found fallen in the open country in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to [a]possess, and it is not known who has struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. 3 And 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 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 near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to minister for Him and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and every dispute and every [b]assault [c]shall be settled by them. 6 And all the elders of that city [d]who are nearest to the slain man shall (B)wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. 8 Atone for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not place the guilt of (C)innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be atoned for them. 9 (D)So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh.
Statutes About Domestic Relations
10 “If you go out to battle against your enemies, and (E)Yahweh your God gives them over into your hands and you take them away captive, 11 and see among the captives a beautiful woman and set your affection on her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall (F)shave her head and [e]trim her nails. 13 She shall also [f]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 go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 And it will be that, if you do not desire her, then you shall let her go [g]wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money; you shall not [h]mistreat her because you have (H)humbled her.
15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and (I)the other [i]unloved, and both the loved and the [j]unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the [k]unloved, 16 then it shall be in the day he [l]wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the [m]unloved, who is the firstborn. 17 But he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the [n]unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that [o]he has, for he is the (J)first of his vigor; (K)the legal judgment for the firstborn belongs to him.
18 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will (L)not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he will not even listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him and bring him out to the elders of his city [p]at the gateway of his hometown. 20 Then they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not listen to our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 (M)Then all the men of his city shall stone him, and he will die; so (N)you shall purge the evil from your midst, and (O)all Israel will hear of it and fear.
A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed
22 “And if a man has committed a sin, (P)the judgment of which is death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 (Q)his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (because (R)cursed of God is he who is hanged), so that you (S)do not make unclean your land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 21:1 Lit possess it
- Deuteronomy 21:5 Lit stroke
- Deuteronomy 21:5 Lit shall be according to their mouth
- Deuteronomy 21:6 Lit which is
- Deuteronomy 21:12 Lit do
- Deuteronomy 21:13 Lit remove from her
- Deuteronomy 21:14 Lit according to her soul
- Deuteronomy 21:14 Or enslave
- Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:15 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:16 Lit makes to inherit
- Deuteronomy 21:16 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit hated
- Deuteronomy 21:17 Lit is found with him
- Deuteronomy 21:19 Lit and to the gate of his place
Deuteronomy 21
Christian Standard Bible
Unsolved Murders
21 “If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2 your elders and judges are to come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities. 3 The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work. 4 The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will break its neck there by the stream. 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve him and pronounce blessings in his name, and they are to give a ruling in[a] every dispute and case of assault. 6 All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken. 7 They will declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see it. 8 Lord, wipe away the guilt of your people Israel whom you redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.’ Then the responsibility for bloodshed will be wiped away from them. 9 You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, for you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight.
Fair Treatment of Captured Women
10 “When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take some of them prisoner, and 11 if you see a beautiful woman among the captives, desire her, and want to take her as your wife, 12 you are to bring her into your house. She is to shave her head, trim her nails, 13 remove the clothes she was wearing when she was taken prisoner, live in your house, and mourn for her father and mother a full month. After that, you may have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife. 14 Then if you are not satisfied with her, you are to let her go where she wants, but you must not sell her or treat her as merchandise,[b] because you have humiliated her.
The Right of the Firstborn
15 “If a man has two wives, one loved and the other neglected, and both the loved and the neglected bear him sons, and if the neglected wife has the firstborn son, 16 when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved wife as his firstborn over the firstborn of the neglected wife. 17 He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the neglected wife, by giving him two shares[c][d] of his estate, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn.(A)
A Rebellious Son
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn’t listen to them even after they discipline him, 19 his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate(B) of his hometown. 20 They will say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn’t obey us. He’s a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city will stone him to death.(C) You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.
Display of Executed People
22 “If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, 23 you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.(D) You must not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.(E)
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