| International Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1"If a murder victim is found fallen in the open country of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, | 1“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. |
| 2then let your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the dead body to the neighboring cities. | 2In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns. |
| 3Then the elders of the city nearest the body are to take a heifer that hasn't been put to work or hasn't pulled a yoke | 3When 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. |
| 4and are to lead the heifer to a flowing stream in a valley that has never been tilled or planted. They are to break the heifer's neck there. | 4They 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. |
| 5Then the priests of the sons of Levi are to step forward, because the LORD your God chose them to serve and pronounce blessings in his name. Every case of dispute and assault is to be subject to their ruling. | 5Then 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. |
| 6All the elders of the city nearest the dead body are to wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, | 6“The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken. |
| 7and they are to make this declaration: 'Our hands didn't shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to the crime. | 7Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen. |
| 8Make atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and don't charge the blood of an innocent man against them.' Then the blood shed will be atoned for. | 8O 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. |
| 9This is how you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right in the sight of the LORD." | 9By following these instructions, you will do what is right in the LORD’s sight and will cleanse the guilt of murder from your community. Marriage to a Captive Woman |
| 10"If you go to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your control, you may take some prisoners captive. | 10“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. |
| 11If you see among the prisoners a beautiful woman and you desire her, then you may take her as your wife. | 11And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. |
| 12Bring her to your house, but shave her head and trim her nails. | 12If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, |
| 13Remove her prisoner's clothing and let her remain for a month in your house, mourning her parents. After that, you may become her husband and she is to become your wife. | 13and 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. |
| 14If you aren't pleased with her and you send her away, you must not sell her for money or mistreat her, since you will have dishonored her." | 14But 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. Rights of the Firstborn |
| 15"If a man has two wives where one is loved but the other is unloved, and both of them bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife, | 15“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. |
| 16then when he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, he must not give preference to the firstborn of the beloved wife over the firstborn of the unloved wife. | 16When 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. |
| 17Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn of the unloved wife by giving him double of everything he owns, because he is really the first fruit of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him." | 17He 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. Dealing with a Rebellious Son |
| 18"If a man has a stubborn son who does not obey his parents, and although they try to discipline him, he still refuses to pay attention to them, | 18“Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. |
| 19then his parents are to seize him and bring him before the elders at the gate of his city. | 19In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. |
| 20Then they are to declare to the elders of their city: 'Our son is stubborn and rebellious. He does not obey us. He lives wildly and is a drunkard.' | 20The 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.’ |
| 21Then all the men of his city are to stone him with stones so that he dies. This is how you will remove this evil from among you. Then all Israel will hear of it and will be afraid." | 21Then 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. Various Regulations |
| 22"If a man is guilty of a capital offense, is executed, and then is impaled on a tree, | 22“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, |
| 23his body must not remain overnight on the tree. You must bury him that same day, because cursed of God is the one who has been hanged on a tree. Don't defile your land that the LORD is about to give you as your inheritance." | 23the 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. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
|
