1 If someone is found dead in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, lying in a field, and it is unknown who struck him,

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:

2 then your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance to the surrounding cities.

Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:

3 The elders of the city nearest to the slain person shall take a heifer that has never been worked or yoked,

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;

4 and they are to bring the heifer down to a valley with flowing water, a valley that has not been plowed or sown. There they are to break the heifer’s neck.

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:

5 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 His name; and every dispute and every case of assault is to be settled by their decision.

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:

6 All the elders of the city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,

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:

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

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

8 LORD, make atonement for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the guilt of innocent blood against Your people Israel.’ And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

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.

9 So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from among you, because you will be doing what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

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.

10 When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hand and you take captives,

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,

11 if you see among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.

And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;

12 Bring her into your home, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails.

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

13 She shall remove the clothes of her captivity and remain in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month. After that, you may go to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

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.

14 But if you are not pleased with her, you must let her go wherever she wishes. You are not to sell her for money or treat her as a slave, because you have humiliated her.

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.

15 If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife,

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:

16 on the day he gives his inheritance to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the loved wife in place of the son of the unloved wife, who is really the firstborn.

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:

17 Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all he has. That son is the firstfruits of his strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

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.

18 If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother, and they discipline him but he will not listen to them,

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:

19 his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his city.

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, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not listen to us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’

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 Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

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.

22 If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and you hang his body on a tree,

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:

23 you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

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.