New International Version NIV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who the killer was,
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"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;
2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.
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then your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance between it and the surrounding towns.
3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke
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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.
4 and lead it down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck.
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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.
5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.
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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.
6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
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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.
7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.
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Then they are to speak up and say, 'This blood was not shed by our hands, nor have we seen who did it.
8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,
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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.
9 and you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.
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Thus you will banish the shedding of innocent blood from among you, by doing what ADONAI sees as right.
10 When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hands and you take captives,
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"When you go out to war against your enemies, and ADONAI your God hands them over to you, and you take prisoners,
11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.
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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;
12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails
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you are to bring her home to your house, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails
13 and put aside the clothes she was wearing when captured. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
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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.
14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
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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.
15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,
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"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;
16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.
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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.
17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
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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.
18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,
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"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;
19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
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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,
20 They shall say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”
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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.'
21 Then all the men of his town are to stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
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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.
22 If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is exposed on a pole,
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"If someone has committed a capital crime and is put to death, then hung on a tree,
23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
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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.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.