Darby Bible Translation

New King James Version

The Atonement for an Unsolved Murder

If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess, lying in the field, [and] it be not known who hath smitten him,

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The Law Concerning Unsolved Murder

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

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then thine elders and thy judges shall go forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain;

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then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities.

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and the city that is nearest unto him that is slain, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer that hath not been wrought with, that hath not drawn in the yoke;

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And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer which has not been worked and which has not pulled with a yoke.

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and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto an ever-flowing watercourse, which is not tilled, nor is it sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the watercourse;

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The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

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and the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to do service unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall be every controversy and every stroke.

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Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every [a]assault shall be settled.

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And all the elders of that city, that are nearest unto him that is slain, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck is broken in the watercourse,

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And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.

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and shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

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Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it.

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Forgive thy people Israel, whom thou, Jehovah, hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel; and the blood shall be expiated for them.

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Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood.

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So shalt thou put away innocent blood from thy midst, when thou shalt do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah.

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So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.

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Marrying a Captive Woman

When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou hast taken captives of them,

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Female Captives

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,

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and thou seest among the captives a woman of beautiful form, and hast a desire unto her, and takest her as thy wife;

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and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife,

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then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;

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then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.

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and she shall put the clothes of her captivity from off her, and shall abide in thy house, and bewail her father and mother a full month, and afterwards thou mayest go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

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She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn 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.

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And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go according to her desire; but thou shalt in no wise sell her for money; thou shalt not treat her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her.

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And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her.

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Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn

If a man have two wives, one beloved, and one hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and the firstborn son be hers that was hated;

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Firstborn Inheritance Rights

“If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the unloved, and if the firstborn son is of her who is unloved,

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then it shall be, in the day that he maketh his sons to inherit what he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is the firstborn;

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then it shall be, on the day he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, that he must not bestow firstborn status on the son of the loved wife in preference to the son of the unloved, the true firstborn.

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but he shall acknowledge as firstborn the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that is found with him; for he is the firstfruits of his vigour: the right of the firstborn is his.

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But he shall acknowledge the son of the unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

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A Rebellious Son

If a man have an unmanageable and rebellious son, who hearkeneth not unto the voice of his father, nor unto the voice of his mother, and they have chastened him, but he hearkeneth not unto them;

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The Rebellious Son

“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 who, when they have chastened him, will not heed them,

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then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

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then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city, to the gate of his city.

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and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is unmanageable and rebellious, he hearkeneth not unto our voice; he is a profligate and a drunkard.

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And they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

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And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die. And thou shalt put evil away from thy midst; and all Israel shall hear and fear.

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Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

22

Cursed is Anyone Hung on a Tree

And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou have hanged him on a tree,

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Miscellaneous Laws

“If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

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his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is a curse of God); and thou shalt not defile thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

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his body shall not remain overnight on the tree, but you shall surely bury him that day, so that you do not defile the land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance; for he who is hanged is accursed of God.

Parallel

Darby Bible Translation

New King James Version

Deuteronomy 21

Deuteronomy 21