Deuteronomy 21

New International Version

Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

21 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,^(A) ²your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. ³Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke^(B) ⁴and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. ⁵The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings^(C) in the name of the Lord and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.^(D) ⁶Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands^(E) over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, ⁷and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. ⁸Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,^(F) ⁹and you will have purged^(G) from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Marrying a Captive Woman

¹⁰When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands^(H) and you take captives,^(I) ¹¹if you notice among the captives a beautiful^(J) woman and are attracted to her,^(K) you may take her as your wife. ¹²Bring her into your home and have her shave her head,^(L) trim her nails ¹³and 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,^(M) then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife. ¹⁴If 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.^(N)

The Right of the Firstborn

¹⁵If a man has two wives,^(O) 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,^(P) ¹⁶when 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.^(Q) ¹⁷He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double^(R) share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength.^(S) The right of the firstborn belongs to him.^(T)

A Rebellious Son

¹⁸If someone has a stubborn and rebellious^(U) son^(V) who does not obey his father and mother^(W) and will not listen to them when they discipline him, ¹⁹his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town. ²⁰They 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.” ²¹Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death.^(X) You must purge the evil^(Y) from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.^(Z)

Various Laws

²²If someone guilty of a capital offense^(AA) is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole, ²³you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight.^(AB) Be sure to bury^(AC) it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse.^(AD) You must not desecrate^(AE) the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

Isaiah 48

New International Version

Stubborn Israel

48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
    you who are called by the name of Israel^(A)
    and come from the line of Judah,^(B)
you who take oaths^(C) in the name of the Lord^(D)
    and invoke^(E) the God of Israel—
    but not in truth^(F) or righteousness—
²you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city^(G)
    and claim to rely^(H) on the God of Israel—
    the Lord Almighty is his name:^(I)
³I foretold the former things^(J) long ago,
    my mouth announced^(K) them and I made them known;
    then suddenly^(L) I acted, and they came to pass.
⁴For I knew how stubborn^(M) you were;
    your neck muscles^(N) were iron,
    your forehead^(O) was bronze.
⁵Therefore I told you these things long ago;
    before they happened I announced^(P) them to you
so that you could not say,
    ‘My images brought them about;^(Q)
    my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
⁶You have heard these things; look at them all.
    Will you not admit them?

“From now on I will tell you of new things,^(R)
    of hidden things unknown to you.
⁷They are created^(S) now, and not long ago;^(T)
    you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
    ‘Yes, I knew^(U) of them.’
⁸You have neither heard nor understood;^(V)
    from of old your ears^(W) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous^(X) you are;
    you were called a rebel^(Y) from birth.
⁹For my own name’s sake^(Z) I delay my wrath;^(AA)
    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
    so as not to destroy you completely.^(AB)
¹⁰See, I have refined^(AC) you, though not as silver;
    I have tested^(AD) you in the furnace^(AE) of affliction.
¹¹For my own sake,^(AF) for my own sake, I do this.
    How can I let myself be defamed?^(AG)
    I will not yield my glory to another.^(AH)

Israel Freed

¹²“Listen^(AI) to me, Jacob,
    Israel, whom I have called:^(AJ)
I am he;^(AK)
    I am the first and I am the last.^(AL)
¹³My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,^(AM)
    and my right hand spread out the heavens;^(AN)
when I summon them,
    they all stand up together.^(AO)

¹⁴“Come together,^(AP) all of you, and listen:
    Which of the idols has foretold^(AQ) these things?
The Lord’s chosen ally^(AR)
    will carry out his purpose^(AS) against Babylon;^(AT)
    his arm will be against the Babylonians.^[a]
¹⁵I, even I, have spoken;
    yes, I have called^(AU) him.
I will bring him,
    and he will succeed^(AV) in his mission.

¹⁶“Come near^(AW) me and listen^(AX) to this:

“From the first announcement I have not spoken in secret;^(AY)
at the time it happens, I am there.”

And now the Sovereign Lord^(AZ) has sent^(BA) me,
endowed with his Spirit.^(BB)

¹⁷This is what the Lord says—
    your Redeemer,^(BC) the Holy One^(BD) of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
    who teaches^(BE) you what is best for you,
    who directs^(BF) you in the way^(BG) you should go.
¹⁸If only you had paid attention^(BH) to my commands,
    your peace^(BI) would have been like a river,^(BJ)
    your well-being^(BK) like the waves of the sea.
¹⁹Your descendants^(BL) would have been like the sand,^(BM)
    your children like its numberless grains;^(BN)
their name would never be blotted out^(BO)
    nor destroyed from before me.”

²⁰Leave Babylon,
    flee^(BP) from the Babylonians!
Announce this with shouts of joy^(BQ)
    and proclaim it.
Send it out to the ends of the earth;^(BR)
    say, “The Lord has redeemed^(BS) his servant Jacob.”
²¹They did not thirst^(BT) when he led them through the deserts;
    he made water flow^(BU) for them from the rock;
he split the rock
    and water gushed out.^(BV)