Deuteronomy 21
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 21
Sacrifice for Untraceable Killing.[a] 1 If the body of a dead man is found lying on the ground of the land that the Lord, your God, has given you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2 have your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3 The elders of the town that is nearest to the body are to take a heifer that has never worked nor worn a yoke. 4 The elders of that town will then lead it down to a valley with a flowing stream that has not been plowed nor planted. In that valley they are to slit the heifer’s throat. 5 The priests, the sons of Levi, will then come forward, for the Lord, your God, has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name of the Lord and to decide all disputes and cases of assault. 6 The elders of the town that is nearest to the body will wash their hands[b] over the heifer whose throat had been slit in the valley, 7 and they will proclaim, “Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it shed. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, O Lord, whom you have redeemed, and do not hold your people responsible for the shedding of innocent blood.” This shall atone for the bloodshed. 9 In this way you will have purged yourself of the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you will have done what is right in the sight of the Lord.
10 Marrying a Female Captive. When you go to war against your enemies and the Lord, your God, delivers them into your hands and you take them captive, 11 if you see a beautiful woman among them and you desire her, you can take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your house, and have her shave her head and trim her nails 13 and have her throw out the clothes she was wearing when she was taken captive. She is to live in your house for a full month and mourn her father and her mother. Then you may go to her and be her husband and she will be your wife. 14 If you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. You are not to sell her or treat her like a slave, for you have already humbled her.
15 Law of the Firstborn.[c] If a man has two wives, and he loves one and dislikes the other, and they both bear him children, both the one who is loved and the one who is disliked, and the son of the one who is disliked is the firstborn, 16 then when he gives his inheritance to his sons, he is not to give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the woman he loves in preference to the true firstborn, the son of the woman he dislikes. 17 He must acknowledge the son of the woman whom he disliked as the firstborn, giving him a double portion of everything that he owned. That son is the first sign of his strength, and the right of firstborn belongs to him.
18 Punishing a Rebellious Son. If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen to his father or his mother, and will not heed them even when he is disciplined, 19 then his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him out to the elders at the town gate. 20 They are to say to the town elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not listen to us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” 21 Then all the men of that town will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from your midst. All of Israel will hear of it and be filled with fear.
22 Burying a Criminal.[d] If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hanging from a tree, 23 you are not to leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that day, for anyone who is hung from a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 21:1 The final section of the Deuteronomic law brings together prescriptions that cannot be reduced to any order; they deal with all sorts of matters and have fairly diverse origins. Two more clearly defined groups can, however, be distinguished: laws regarding the family and social norms.
- Deuteronomy 21:6 Wash their hands: in cases where the one responsible for taking someone’s life cannot be found, the community can offer sacrifice to obtain forgiveness while maintaining their innocence.
- Deuteronomy 21:15 While Scripture in no way condones polygamy, recognition of the firstborn’s rights of inheritance are here defined when a man has more than one wife and children from them.
- Deuteronomy 21:22 This is why the body of Jesus was buried before nightfall (Jn 19:31). See the application of the entire passage to Jesus in Gal 3:13.
Deuteronomy 21
English Standard Version
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.
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 (G)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 (H)let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you (I)treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.
Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn
15 “If a man has two wives, (J)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 (K)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 (L)the firstfruits of his strength. (M)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 (N)Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. (O)So you shall purge the evil from your midst, (P)and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed
22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 (Q)his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for (R)a hanged man is cursed by God. (S)You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 21:15 Or hated; also verses 16, 17
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
