21:1 And if one be found slain with the
sword in the land, which the Lord thy God gives thee to inherit, having
fallen in the field, and they do not know who has smitten [him];
21:2 thine elders and thy judges shall come forth, and shall measure the
distances of the cities round about the slain man:
21:3 and it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man the
elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not laboured,
and which has not borne a yoke.
21:4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer into a rough
valley, which has not been tilled and is not sown, and they shall slay the
heifer in the valley.
21:5 And the priests the Levites shall come, because the Lord God has chosen
them to stand by him, and to bless in his name, and by their word shall
every controversy and every stroke be [decided].
21:6 And all the elders of that city who draw nigh to the slain man shall
wash their hands over the head of the heifer which was slain in the valley;
21:7 and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, and
our eyes have not seen [it].
21:8 Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, that
innocent blood may not be charged on thy people Israel: and the blood shall
be atoned for to them.
21:9 And thou shalt take away innocent blood from among you, if thou
shouldest do that which is good and pleasing before the Lord thy God.
21:10 And if when thou goest out to war against thine enemies, the Lord thy
God should deliver them into thine hands, and thou shouldest take their
spoil,
21:11 and shouldest see among the spoil a woman beautiful in countenance,
and shouldest desire her, and take her to thyself for a wife,
21:12 and shouldest bring her within thine house: then shalt thou shave her
head, and pare her nails;
21:13 and shalt take away her garments of captivity from off her, and she
shall abide in thine house, and shall bewail her father and mother the days
of a month; and afterwards thou shalt go in to her and dwell with her, and
she shall be thy wife.
21:14 And it shall be if thou do not delight in her, thou shalt send her out
free; and she shall not by any means be sold for money, thou shalt not treat
her contemptuously, because thou hast humbled her.
21:15 And if a man have two wives, the one loved and the other hated, and
both the loved and the hated should have born him [children], and the son of
the hated should be first-born;
21:16 then I shall be that whensoever he shall divide by inheritance his
goods to his sons, he shall not be able to give the right of the first-born
to the son of the loved one, having overlooked the son of the hated, which
is the first-born.
21:17 But he shall acknowledge the first-born of the hated one to give to
him double of all things which shall be found by him, because he is the
first of his children, and to him belongs the birthright.
21:18 And if any man has a disobedient and contentious son, who hearkens not
to the voice of his father and the voice of his mother, and they should
correct him, and he should not hearken to them;
21:19 then shall his father and his mother take hold of him, and bring him
forth to the elders of his city, and to the gate of the place:
21:20 and they shall say to the men of their city, This our son is
disobedient and contentious, he hearkens not to our voice, he is a reveler
and a drunkard.
21:21 And the men of his city shall stone him with stones, and he shall die;
and thou shalt remove the evil one from yourselves, and the rest shall hear
and fear.
21:22 And if there be sin in any one, [and] the judgment of death [be upon
him], and he be put to death, and ye hang him on a tree:
21:23 his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but ye shall by all
means bury it in that day; for every one that is hanged on a tree is cursed
of God; and ye shall by no means defile the land which the Lord thy God
gives thee for an inheritance. |
21:1 If one be found slain in the land which
the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be
not known who hath slain him:
21:2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure
unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:
21:3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even
the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought
with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;
21:4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough
valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's
neck there in the valley:
21:5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy
God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD;
and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:
21:6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man,
shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
21:7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood,
neither have our eyes seen it.
21:8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed,
and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood
shall be forgiven them.
21:9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when
thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
21:10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy
God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
21:11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto
her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
21:12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her
head, and pare her nails;
21:13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall
remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month:
and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall
be thy wife.
21:14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let
her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou
shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
21:15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have
born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son
be hers that was hated:
21:16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he
hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son
of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
21:17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by
giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of
his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
21:18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the
voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have
chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
21:19 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;
21:20 And they shall say unto 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.
21:21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die:
so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and
fear.
21:22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put
to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
21:23 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 accursed of God;) that
thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance. |