21:1 "If in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, any one is found slain, lying in the open country, and it is not known who killed him,
21:1 If, in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck the person down,

21:2 then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance to the cities which are around him that is slain;
21:2 then your elders and your judges shall come out to measure the distances to the towns that are near the body.

21:3 and the elders of the city which is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer which has never been worked and which has not pulled in the yoke.
21:3 The elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked, one that has not pulled in the yoke;

21:4 And the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.
21:4 the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the wadi.

21:5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the LORD, and by their word every dispute and every assault shall be settled.
21:5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister to him and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD, and by their decision all cases of dispute and assault shall be settled.

21:6 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;
21:6 All the elders of that town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi,

21:7 and they shall testify, `Our hands did not shed this blood, neither did our eyes see it shed.
21:7 and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to it.

21:8 Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and set not the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel; but let the guilt of blood be forgiven them.'
21:8 Absolve, O LORD, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel." Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt.

21:9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the sight of the LORD.
21:9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you must do what is right in the sight of the LORD.

21:10 "When you go forth to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hands, and you take them captive,
21:10 When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God hands them over to you and you take them captive,

21:11 and see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you have desire for her and would take her for yourself as wife,
21:11 suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman whom you desire and want to marry,

21:12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and pare her nails.
21:12 and so you bring her home to your house: she shall shave her head, pare her nails,

21:13 And she shall put off her captive's garb, and shall remain in your house and bewail 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.
21:13 discard her captive's garb, and shall remain in your house a full month, mourning for her father and mother; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

21:14 Then, if you have no delight in her, you shall let her go where she will; but you shall not sell her for money, you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.
21:14 But if you are not satisfied with her, you shall let her go free and not sell her for money. You must not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

21:15 "If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other disliked, and they have borne him children, both the loved and the disliked, and if the first-born son is hers that is disliked,
21:15 If a man has two wives, one of them loved and the other disliked, and if both the loved and the disliked have borne him sons, the firstborn being the son of the one who is disliked,

21:16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons, he may not treat the son of the loved as the first-born in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the first-born,
21:16 then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he is not permitted to treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the firstborn.

21:17 but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the disliked, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the first issue of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.
21:17 He must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the one who is disliked, giving him a double portion of all that he has; since he is the first issue of his virility, the right of the firstborn is his.

21:18 "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, though they chastise him, will not give heed to them,
21:18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him,

21:19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,
21:19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place.

21:20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, `This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'
21:20 They shall say to the elders of his town, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard."

21:21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones; so you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
21:21 Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel will hear, and be afraid.

21:22 "And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,
21:22 When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree,

21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is accursed by God; you shall not defile your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance.
21:23 his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you for possession.