The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
New Living Translation NLT
1 "If, in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess, a murder victim is found lying in the countryside; and the perpetrator of the murder is not known;
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“When you are in the land the LORD your God is giving you, someone may be found murdered in a field, and you don’t know who committed the murder.
2 then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns.
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In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns.
3 After it has been determined which town is the closest, the leaders of that town are to take a young female cow that has never been put to work or yoked for use as a draft animal.
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When the nearest town has been determined, that town’s elders must select from the herd a heifer that has never been trained or yoked to a plow.
4 The leaders of that town are to bring the heifer down to a vadi with a stream in it that never dries up, to a place that is neither plowed nor sown; and they are to break the cow's neck there in the vadi.
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They must lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and that has a stream running through it. There in the valley they must break the heifer’s neck.
5 Then the cohanim, who are L'vi'im, are to approach; for ADONAI your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in the name of ADONAI; they will decide the outcome of every dispute and matter involving violence.
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Then the Levitical priests must step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister before him and to pronounce blessings in the LORD ’s name. They are to decide all legal and criminal cases.
6 All the leaders of the town nearest the murder victim are to wash their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the vadi.
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“The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken.
7 Then they are to speak up and say, 'This blood was not shed by our hands, nor have we seen who did it.
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Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen.
8 ADONAI, forgive your people Isra'el, whom you redeemed; do not allow innocent blood to be shed among your people Isra'el.' And they will be forgiven this bloodshed.
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O LORD, forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.’ Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person’s blood.
9 Thus you will banish the shedding of innocent blood from among you, by doing what ADONAI sees as right.
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By following these instructions, you will do what is right in the LORD ’s sight and will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community.
10 "When you go out to war against your enemies, and ADONAI your God hands them over to you, and you take prisoners,
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“Suppose you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD your God hands them over to you, and you take some of them as captives.
11 and you see among the prisoners a woman who looks good to you, and you feel attracted to her and want her as your wife;
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And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her.
12 you are to bring her home to your house, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails
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If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails,
13 and remove her prison clothing. She will stay there in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month; after which you may go in to have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife.
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and change the clothes she was wearing when she was captured. She will stay in your home, but let her mourn for her father and mother for a full month. Then you may marry her, and you will be her husband and she will be your wife.
14 In the event that you lose interest in her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes; but you may not sell her for money or treat her like a slave, because you humiliated her.
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But if you marry her and she does not please you, you must let her go free. You may not sell her or treat her as a slave, for you have humiliated her.
15 "If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and unloved wives have borne him children, and if the firstborn son is the child of the unloved wife;
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“Suppose a man has two wives, but he loves one and not the other, and both have given him sons. And suppose the firstborn son is the son of the wife he does not love.
16 then, when it comes time for him to pass his inheritance on to his sons, he may not give the inheritance due the firstborn to the son of the loved wife in place of the son of the unloved one, who is in fact the firstborn.
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When the man divides his inheritance, he may not give the larger inheritance to his younger son, the son of the wife he loves, as if he were the firstborn son.
17 No, he must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the unloved wife by giving him a double portion of everything he owns, for he is the firstfruits of his manhood, and the right of the firstborn is his.
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He must recognize the rights of his oldest son, the son of the wife he does not love, by giving him a double portion. He is the first son of his father’s virility, and the rights of the firstborn belong to him.
18 "If a man has a stubborn, rebellious son who will not obey what his father or mother says, and even after they discipline him he still refuses to pay attention to them;
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“Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him.
19 then his father and mother are to take hold of him and bring him out to the leaders of his town, at the gate of that place,
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In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate.
20 and say to the leaders of his town, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he doesn't pay attention to us, lives wildly, gets drunk.'
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The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’
21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death; in this way you will put an end to such wickedness among you, and all Isra'el will hear about it and be afraid.
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Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.
22 "If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree,
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“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree,
23 his body is not to remain all night on the tree, but you must bury him the same day, because a person who has been hanged has been cursed by God -so that you will not defile your land, which ADONAI your God is giving you to inherit.
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the body must not remain hanging from the tree overnight. You must bury the body that same day, for anyone who is hung is cursed in the sight of God. In this way, you will prevent the defilement of the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.