Deuteronomy 21

NEW JERUSALEM	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 'If, in the country which Yahweh your God gives you as your possession, a victim of murder is foundlying in the open country and it is not known who has kil ed that person,	1 "If the corpse of a slain man is found lying in the open on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you to occupy, and it is not known who killed him,
2 your elders and scribes must measure the distance between the victim and the surrounding towns,	2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distances to the cities that are in the neighborhood of the corpse.
3 and establish which town is the nearest to the victim. The elders of that town must then take a heiferthat has not yet been put to work or used as a draught animal under the yoke.	3 When it is established which city is nearest the corpse, the elders of that city shall take a heifer that has never been put to work as a draft animal under a yoke,
4 The elders of that town must bring the heifer down to a permanently flowing river, to a spot that hasbeen neither ploughed nor sown, and there by the river they must break the heifer's neck.	4 and bringing it down to a wadi with an everflowing stream at a place that has not been plowed or sown, they shall cut the heifer's throat there in the wadi.
5 The priests, the sons of Levi, wil then step forward, these being the men whom Yahweh your God haschosen to serve him and to bless in Yahweh's name, and it being their business to settle al cases of dispute orof violence.	5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, shall also be present, for the LORD, your God, has chosen them to minister to him and to give blessings in his name, and every case of dispute or violence must be settled by their decision.
6 Al the elders of the town nearest to the victim of murder must then wash their hands in the stream,over the slaughtered heifer.	6 Then all the elders of that city nearest the corpse shall wash their hands over the heifer whose throat was cut in the wadi,
7 They must pronounce these words, "Our hands have not shed this blood and our eyes have seennothing.	7 and shall declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see the deed.
8 O Yahweh, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed, and let no innocent blood be shedamong your people Israel. May this bloodshed be forgiven them!"	8 Absolve, O LORD, your people Israel, whom you have ransomed, and let not the guilt of shedding innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel.' Thus they shall be absolved from the guilt of bloodshed,
9 You must banish all shedding of innocent blood from among you, if you mean to do what is right in theeyes of Yahweh.	9 and you shall purge from your midst the guilt of innocent blood, that you may prosper for doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.
10 'When you go to war against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your power andyou take prisoners,	10 "When you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD, your God, delivers them into your hand, so that you take captives,
11 and among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman, and you fal in love with her, and you take herto be your wife	11 if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife,
12 and bring her home; she must shave her head and cut her nails,	12 you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails
13 and take off her prisoner's garb; she must stay inside your house and mourn her father and motherfor a full month. You may then go to her and be a husband to her, and she wil be your wife.	13 and lay aside her captive's garb. After she has mourned her father and mother for a full month, you may have relations with her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife.
14 Should she cease to please you, you wil let her go where she wishes, not sel ing her for money: youmust not make any profit out of her, since you have exploited her.	14 However, if later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; but you shall not sell her or enslave her, since she was married to you under compulsion.
15 'If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and the loved one and the unloved bothbear him children, and if the first-born son is of the unloved wife,	15 "If a man with two wives loves one and dislikes the other; and if both bear him sons, but the first-born is of her whom he dislikes:
16 when the man comes to bequeath his goods to his sons, he may not treat the son of the wife whomhe loves as the first-born, at the expense of the son of the wife whom he does not love, the true first-born.	16 when he comes to bequeath his property to his sons he may not consider as his first-born the son of the wife he loves, in preference to his true first-born, the son of the wife whom he dislikes.
17 As his first-born he must acknowledge the son of the wife whom he does not love, giving him adouble share of his estate; this son being the first-fruit of his vigour, the right of the first-born is his.	17 On the contrary, he shall recognize as his first-born the son of her whom he dislikes, giving him a double share of whatever he happens to own, since he is the first fruits of his manhood, and to him belong the rights of the first-born.
18 'If a man has a stubborn and rebel ious son who wil not listen to the voice either of his father or of hismother and, even when they punish him, still wil not pay attention to them,	18 "If a man has a stubborn and unruly son who will not listen to his father or mother, and will not obey them even though they chastise him,
19 his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate ofthat place.	19 his father and mother shall have him apprehended and brought out to the elders at the gate of his home city,
20 To the elders of his town, they wil say, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebel ious and will not listento us; he is a wastrel and a drunkard."	20 where they shall say to those city elders, 'This son of ours is a stubborn and unruly fellow who will not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'
21 Al his fel ow-citizens must then stone him to death. You must banish this evil from among you. AlIsrael, hearing of this, wil be afraid.	21 Then all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel, on hearing of it, shall fear.
22 'If a man guilty of a capital offence is to be put to death, and you hang him from a tree,	22 "If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his corpse hung on a tree,
23 his body must not remain on the tree overnight; you must bury him the same day, since anyonehanged is a curse of God, and you must not bring pollution on the soil which Yahweh your God is giving you asyour heritage.'	23 it shall not remain on the tree overnight. You shall bury it the same day; otherwise, since God's curse rests on him who hangs on a tree, you will defile the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.