Deuteronomy 21:1-9

New International Reader's Version

What to Do When You Don’t Know Who Killed Someone

21 Suppose you find someone who has been killed. The body is lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own. But no one knows who the killer was. ² Then your elders and judges will go out to the field. They will measure the distance from the body to the nearby towns. ³ The elders from the town that is nearest to the body will get a young cow. It must never have been used for work. It must never have pulled a load. ⁴ The elders must lead it down into a valley. The valley must not have been farmed. There must be a stream flowing through it. There in the valley the elders must break the cow’s neck. ⁵ The priests, who are sons of Levi, will step forward. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him. He wants them to bless the people in his name. He wants them to decide all cases that have to do with people arguing and attacking others. ⁶ Then all the elders from the town that is nearest to the body will wash their hands. They will wash them over the young cow whose neck they broke in the valley. ⁷ They’ll say to the Lord, “We didn’t kill that person. We didn’t see it happen. ⁸ Accept this payment for the sin of your people Israel. Lord, you have set your people free. Don’t hold them guilty for spilling the blood of someone who hasn’t done anything wrong.” That will pay for the death of that person. ⁹ So you will get rid of the guilt of killing someone who didn’t do anything wrong. That’s because you have done what is right in the Lord’s eyes.