Deuteronomy 21
Cursed Is Everyone Hanged on a Tree
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Atonement for an Unsolved Murder
21:1If someone is found slain in the land the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, lying in the open country, and no one knows who struck him,
21:2your council of elders and judges shall go out and measure the distances to the cities around the slain person.
21:3The council of elders of the city nearest the slain person shall take a heifer from the herd that has never been worked and has never pulled a yoke.
21:4The council of elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a rough ravine that has not been cultivated or sown, and they shall cut the heifer’s sinews in the ravine.
21:5The Levitical priests shall approach, for the Lord your God chose them to stand before Him and bless in His name. Every dispute and every injury shall be decided by their word.
21:6The entire council of elders of that city nearest the slain person shall wash their hands over the head of the heifer whose sinews were cut in the ravine,
21:7and declare: Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see it.
21:8Be propitious to Your people Israel, whom You redeemed, Lord, from the land of Egypt, so that there may be no the guilt of innocent bloodshed among Your people Israel. Then the bloodguilt shall be expiated for them.
21:9You shall remove the guilt of innocent bloodshed from among yourselves if you do what is good and pleasing before the Lord your God.
Female Captives
21:10If you go out to war against your enemies, the Lord your God hands them over to you, and you plunder their spoil,
21:11and you see among the spoil a woman beautiful in appearance, set your mind on her, and take her for yourself as a wife,
21:12bring her into your house. You shall shave her head and trim her nails.
21:13You shall remove her captive clothing. She shall remain in your house and mourn her father and mother for a full month. Afterward you may go in to her and live with her as husband, and she shall be your wife.
21:14If you no longer want her, send her away free. She must not be sold for silver, and you must not treat her with contempt, because you have humiliated her.
The Right of the Firstborn
21:15If a man has two wives, one loved and the other hated, and both bear him children, but the firstborn son belongs to the hated wife,
21:16then when he gives his sons their inheritance from his belongings, he may not grant firstborn status to the loved wife’s son while overlooking the hated wife’s son, who is the firstborn.
21:17Instead, he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the hated wife’s son, by giving him a double share of all he owns, for he is the first of his children; the birthright belongs to him.
A Rebellious Son
21:18If someone has a disobedient and provocative son who will not obey his father or mother, and they discipline him but he still will not listen,
21:19his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to his city’s council of elders, to the gate of his town.
21:20They shall tell the men of their city: This son of ours disobeys and provokes us. He will not obey us; he carouses and drinks to excess.
21:21The men of his city shall stone him to death. Remove the evil person from among yourselves; the rest shall hear and fear.
A Man Hanged on a Tree
21:22If someone has committed an offense deserving a death sentence, dies, and you hang him on a tree,
21:23his body shall not remain on the tree overnight. Bury him that same day, for everyone hanging on a tree is cursed by God. Do not defile the land the Lord your God is giving you as an allotment.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.