| Holman Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, | 1If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, |
| 2your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities. | 2your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities. |
| 3The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work. | 3Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work, |
| 4The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will break its neck there by the stream. | 4bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream. |
| 5Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name, and they are to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault. | 5And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault. |
| 6All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken. | 6Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken, |
| 7They will declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see it. | 7and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. |
| 8 LORD, forgive Your people Israel You redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.' Then they will be absolved of responsibility for bloodshed. | 8Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for. |
| 9You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, for you will be doing what is right in the LORD's sight." | 9So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD. |
| 10When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God hands them over to you and you take some of them prisoner, and | 10When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive, |
| 11if you see a beautiful woman among the captives, desire her, and want to take her as your wife, | 11if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife, |
| 12you are to bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails, | 12then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails, |
| 13remove the clothes she was wearing when she was taken prisoner, live in your house, and mourn for her father and mother a full month. After that, you may have sexual relations with her and be her husband, and she will be your wife. | 13and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. |
| 14Then if you are not satisfied with her, you are to let her go where she wants, but you must not sell her for money or treat her as merchandise, because you have humiliated her." | 14And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her. |
| 15If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved bear him sons, and if the unloved wife has the firstborn son, | 15If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son, |
| 16when that man gives what he has to his sons as an inheritance, he is not to show favoritism to the son of the loved wife as his firstborn over the firstborn of the unloved wife. | 16when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife. |
| 17He must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved wife, by giving him two shares of his estate, for he is the firstfruits of his virility; he has the rights of the firstborn." | 17Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him. |
| 18If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father or mother and doesn't listen to them even after they discipline him, | 18If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined, |
| 19his father and mother must take hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown. | 19his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown, |
| 20They will say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he doesn't obey us. He's a glutton and a drunkard.' | 20and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” |
| 21Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. You must purge the evil from you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid." | 21Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid. |
| 22If anyone is found guilty of an offense deserving the death penalty and is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, | 22If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree, |
| 23you are not to leave his corpse on the tree overnight but are to bury him that day, for anyone 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." | 23you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. |
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