New American Standard Bible

Darby Bible Translation

Expiation of a Crime

“If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, and it is not known who has struck him,

1

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,

2

then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one.

2

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

3

“It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke;

3

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;

4

and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

4

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;

5

“Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and every dispute and every assault shall be settled by them.

5

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.

6

“All the elders of that city which is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;

6

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 they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

7

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

8

‘Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O LORD, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them.

8

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.

9

“So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

9

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

10

Domestic Relations

“When you go out to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take them away captive,

10

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,

11

and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and have a desire for her and would take her as a wife for yourself,

11

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

12

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

13

“She shall also remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house, and mourn her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.

13

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.

14

“It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her, because you have humbled her.

14

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.

15

“If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,

15

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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then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn.

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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;

17

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

18

“If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them,

18

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;

19

then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown.

19

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;

20

“They shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

20

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.

21

“Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear.

21

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.

22

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

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,

23

his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (for he who is hanged is accursed of God), so that you do not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

23

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.

Parallel

New American Standard Bible

Darby Bible Translation

Deuteronomy 21

Deuteronomy 21