Deuteronomy 21

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
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 “When there will have been found in the land, which the Lord your God will give to you, the corpse of a man who has been killed, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,
2 your elders and scribes must measure the distance between the victim and the surrounding towns,	2 your judges and those greater by birth shall go out and measure, from the place of the corpse, the distance to each of the surrounding cities.
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 And in whichever one they perceive to be closer than the others, the elders shall take a calf from the herd, one which has not pulled with a yoke, nor tilled with a plow.
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 they shall lead it into a rough and stony valley, one which has never been tilled or sown. And in that place, they shall cut the neck of the calf.
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 And the priests the sons of Levi shall approach, those whom the Lord your God has chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and to decide every controversy by their word, and to judge which things are clean and which are unclean.
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 And those greater by birth of that city, nearest to the one who was slain, shall go and shall wash their hands over the calf that was killed in the valley.
7 They must pronounce these words, "Our hands have not shed this blood and our eyes have seennothing.	7 And they shall say: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.
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 Be merciful to your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Lord, and do not charge them with innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel.’ And so the guilt of the blood will be taken away from them.
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 Then you will be free from the blood that was shed against the innocent, when you will have done as the Lord has instructed you.
10 'When you go to war against your enemies and Yahweh your God delivers them into your power andyou take prisoners,	10 If you have gone out to fight against your enemies, and the Lord your God has delivered them into your hand, and if, as you are leading away the 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 you see among the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and you love her, and you are willing to have her as a wife:
12 and bring her home; she must shave her head and cut her nails,	12 then you shall lead her into your house. And she shall shave off her hair, and cut her nails short,
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 remove the garment in which she was captured. And she shall sit in your house and weep for her father and mother, for one month. And after that, you shall enter to her and sleep with her, 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 But if afterwards she does not sit well in your mind, you shall set her free. You cannot sell her for money, nor can you oppress her by force. For you have humiliated her.
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 has two wives, one beloved and the other hated, and they have produced children by him, and if the son of the hated wife is the firstborn,
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 and if he wishes to divide his substance among his sons: he cannot make the son of the beloved wife the firstborn, and so prefer him before the son of the hated wife.
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 Instead, he shall acknowledge the son of the hated wife as the firstborn, and he shall give to him a double portion of all that he has. For he is the first among his children, and the rights of the firstborn are owed to him.
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 produces a disobedient and reckless son, who will not listen to the orders of his father or mother, and, having been corrected, shows contempt for obedience:
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 they shall take him and lead him to the elders of the city and to the gate of judgment.
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 And they shall say to them: ‘This our son is reckless and disobedient. He shows contempt when listening to our admonitions. He occupies himself with carousing, and self-indulgence, and feasting.’
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 the people of the city shall stone him to death. And he shall die, so that you may take away the evil from your midst. And so may all of Israel, upon hearing it, be very afraid.
22 'If a man guilty of a capital offence is to be put to death, and you hang him from a tree,	22 When a man will have sinned in a matter which is punished by death, and, having been judged unto death, he has been hanged on a gallows:
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 his corpse shall not remain on the tree. Instead, he shall be buried on the same day. For he who hangs from a tree has been cursed by God, and you shall not defile your land, which the Lord your God will give to you as a possession.”