Deuteronomy 21

NEW AMERICAN BIBLE	DOUAI-RHEIMS
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,	1 Then there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,
2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distances to the cities that are in the neighborhood of the corpse.	2 Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:
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,	3 And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,
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.	4 And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer:
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.	5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged.
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,	6 And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,
7 and shall declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see the deed.	7 And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.
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,	8 Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:
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.	9 And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.
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,	10 If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,
11 if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife,	11 And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,
12 you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails	12 Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails,
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.	13 And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.
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.	14 Rut if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.
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:	15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the firstborn,
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.	16 And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before the son of the hated.
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.	17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.
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,	18 If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience:
19 his father and mother shall have him apprehended and brought out to the elders at the gate of his home city,	19 They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of his city, and to the gate of judgment,
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.'	20 And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:
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.	21 The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.
22 "If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his corpse hung on a tree,	22 When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:
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.	23 His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession.