Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,
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If, in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess, a body is found lying in open country, and it is not known who struck the person down,
2 Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:
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then your elders and your judges shall come out to measure the distances to the towns that are near the body.
3 And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,
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The elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked, one that has not pulled in the yoke;
4 And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer:
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the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the wadi.
5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged.
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Then 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 the name of the Lord, and by their decision all cases of dispute and assault shall be settled.
6 And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,
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All the elders of that town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi,
7 And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.
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and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to it.
8 Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:
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Absolve, O Lord, your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel." Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt.
9 And thou shalt be free from the innocent’s blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.
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So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, because you must do what is right in the sight of the Lord.
10 If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,
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When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God hands them over to you and you take them captive,
11 And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,
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suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman whom you desire and want to marry,
12 Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails,
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and so you bring her home to your house: she shall shave her head, pare her nails,
13 And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.
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discard her captive's garb, and shall remain in your house a full month, mourning for her father and mother; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.
14 But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.
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But if you are not satisfied with her, you shall let her go free and not sell her for money. You must not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the firstborn,
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If a man has two wives, one of them loved and the other disliked, and if both the loved and the disliked have borne him sons, the firstborn being the son of the one who is disliked,
16 And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before the son of the hated.
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then on the day when he wills his possessions to his sons, he is not permitted to treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the disliked, who is the firstborn.
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.
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He must acknowledge as firstborn the son of the one who is disliked, giving him a double portion of all that he has; since he is the first issue of his virility, the right of the firstborn is his.
18 If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience:
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If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father and mother, who does not heed them when they discipline him,
19 They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city, and to the gate of judgment,
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then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the gate of that place.
20 And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:
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They shall say to the elders of his town, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard."
21 The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.
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Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death. So you shall purge the evil from your midst; and all Israel will hear, and be afraid.
22 When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:
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When someone is convicted of a crime punishable by death and is executed, and you hang him on a tree,
23 His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession.
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his corpse must not remain all night upon the tree; you shall bury him that same day, for anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. You must not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you for possession.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.