"If a slain
person is found
lying
in the open country
in the land
which
the LORD
your God
gives
you to 1possess
, and it is not known
who
has struck
him,
then your elders and your judges
shall go
out and measure
the distance to the cities
which
are around
the slain
one
.
"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
;
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
.
"Then athe 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
1assault
2shall be settled
by them.
"All the elders
of that city
1which is nearest
to the slain
man
shall awash
their hands
over
the heifer
whose neck
was broken
in the valley
;
and they shall answer and say
, `Our hands
did not shed
this
blood
, nor
did our eyes
see
it.
` 1Forgive Your people
Israel
whom
You have redeemed
, O LORD
, and do not place
the guilt
of ainnocent
blood
in the midst
of Your people
Israel
.' And the bloodguiltiness
shall be 2forgiven
them.
" aSo you shall remove the guilt
of innocent
blood
from your midst
, when
you do
what
is right
in the eyes
of the LORD
.
"When you go
out to battle
against
your enemies
, and athe LORD
your God
delivers
them into your hands
and you take
them away captive
,
and see among the captives
a beautiful
woman
, and have
a desire
for her and would take
her as a wife
for yourself,
then you shall bring her home
to your house
, and she shall ashave
her head
and 1trim
her nails
.
"She shall also 1remove the clothes
of her captivity
and shall remain
in your house
, and amourn
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
.
"It shall be, if you are not pleased
with her, then you shall let
her go
1wherever she wishes
; but you shall certainly
not sell
her for money
, you shall not 2mistreat
her, because
you have ahumbled
her.
"If a man
has
two
wives
, the one
loved
and athe other
1unloved
, and both the loved
and the 1unloved
have borne
him sons
, if the firstborn
son
belongs to the 1unloved
,
then it shall be in the day he 1wills
what
he has
to his sons
, he cannot
make
the son
of the loved
the firstborn
before
the son
of the 2unloved
, who is the firstborn
.
"But he shall acknowledge the firstborn
, the son
of the 1unloved
, by giving
him a double
portion
of all
that 2he has
, for he is the abeginning
of his strength
; bto him belongs the right
of the firstborn
.
"If any
man
has
a stubborn
and rebellious
son
who will anot obey
his father
or his mother
, and when they chastise
him, he will not even listen
to them,
then his father and mother
shall seize
him, and bring
him out to the elders
of his city
1at the gateway
of his hometown
.
"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
.'
" aThen all the men
of his city
shall stone
him to death
; so byou shall remove
the evil
from your midst
, and call
Israel
will hear
of it and fear
.
"If a man
has committed
a sin
aworthy
of death
and he is put
to death
, and you hang
him on a tree
,
ahis corpse shall not hang
all night
on the tree
, but you shall surely
bury
him on the same
day
(for bhe who is hanged
is 1accursed
of God
), so that you cdo not defile
your land
which
the LORD
your God
gives
you as an inheritance
.