Deuteronomy 21

ki-yimmatse khalal ba'adamah asher Adonai elohekha noten lekha lerishtah nofel bassadeh lo noda mi hikkahu

If, in the land that the ETERNAL your God is assigning you to possess, someone slain is found lying in the open, the identity of the slayer not being known,

veyatse'u zeqenekha veshofetekha umadedu el-he'arim asher sevivot hekhalal

your elders and magistrates shall go out and measure the distances from the corpse to the nearby towns.

vehayah ha'ir haqqerovah el-hekhalal velaqekhu ziqne ha'ir hahiv eglat baqar asher lo-ubbad bah asher lo-mashekhah be'ol

The elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall then take a heifer that has never been worked, which has never pulled in a yoke;

vehoridu ziqne ha'ir hahiv et-ha'eglah el-nakhal etan asher lo-ye'aved bo velo yizzarea ve'arefu-sham et-ha'eglah bannakhal

and the elders of that town shall bring the heifer down to an everflowing wadi, which is not tilled or sown. There, in the wadi, they shall break the heifer’s neck.

veniggeshu hakkohanim bene levi ki vam bakhar Adonai elohekha leshareto ulevarekh beshem Adonai ve'al-pihem yihyeh kol-riv vekhol-naga

The priests, sons of Levi, shall come forward; for the ETERNAL your God has chosen them for divine service and to pronounce blessing in the name of GOD, and every lawsuit and case of assault is subject to their ruling.

vekhol ziqne ha'ir hahiv haqqerovim el-hekhalal yirkhatsu et-yedehem al-ha'eglah ha'arufah vannakhal

Then all the elders of the town nearest to the corpse shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi.

ve'anu ve'ameru yadenu lo (shfkhh) [shafekhu] et-haddam hazzeh ve'enenu lo ra'u

And they shall make this declaration: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.

kapper le'ammekha yisra'el asher-padita Adonai ve'al-titten dam naqi beqerev ammekha yisra'el venikkapper lahem haddam

Absolve, O ETERNAL One, Your people Israel whom You redeemed, and do not let guilt for the blood of the innocent remain among Your people Israel.” And they will be absolved of bloodguilt.

ve'attah teva'er haddam hannaqi miqqirbekha ki-ta'aseh hayyashar be'ene Adonai

Thus you will remove from your midst guilt for the blood of the innocent, for you will be doing what is right in GOD’s sight.

ki-tetse lammilkhamah al-oyevekha unetano Adonai elohekha beyadekha veshavita shivyo

When you take the field against your enemies, and the ETERNAL your God delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive,

vera'ita bashivyah eshet yefat-to'ar vekhashaqta vah velaqakhta lekha le'isha

and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her and would take her to wife;

vahavetah el-tokh betekha vegillekhah et-roshah ve'asetah et-tsipporneha

and you bring her into your household, and she trims her hair, pares her nails,

vehesirah et-simlat shivyah me'aleha veyashevah bevetekha uvakhetah et-aviha ve'et-immah yerakh yamim ve'akhar ken tavo eleha uve'altah vehayetah lekha le'isha

and discards her captive’s garb; and she spends a month’s time in your household lamenting her father and mother: after that you may come to her and thus become her husband, and she shall be your wife.

vehayah im-lo khafatsta bah veshillakhtah lenafshah umakhor lo-timkerennah bakkasef lo-titammer bah takhat asher innitah

Then, should you no longer want her, you must release her outright. You must not sell her for money: since you had your will of her, you must not enslave her.

ki-tihyena le'ish shete nashim ha'akhat ahuvah veha'akhat senu'ah veyaledu-lo vanim ha'ahuvah vehassenu'ah vehayah habben habbekhor lasseni'ah

If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, but the first-born is the son of the unloved one—

vehayah beyom hankhilo et-banayw et asher-yihyeh lo lo yukhal levakker et-ben-ha'ahuvah al-pene ven-hassenu'ah habbekhor

when he wills his property to his sons, he may not treat as first-born the son of the loved one in disregard of the son of the unloved one who is older.

ki et-habbekhor ben-hassenu'ah yakkir latet lo pi shenayim bekhol asher-yimmatse lo ki-hu reshit ono lo mishpat habbekhorah

Instead, he must accept the first-born, the son of the unloved one, and allot to him a double portion of all he possesses; since he is the first fruit of his vigor, the birthright is his due.

ki-yihyeh le'ish ben sorer umoreh enennu shomea beqol aviv uveqol immo veyisseru oto velo yishma alehem

If a man has a wayward and defiant son, who does not heed his father or mother and does not obey them even after they discipline him,

vetafesu vo aviv ve'immo vehotsi'u oto el-ziqne iro ve'el-sha'ar meqomo

his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his town at the public place of his community.

ve'ameru el-ziqne iro benenu zeh sorer umoreh enennu shomea beqolenu zolel vesove

They shall say to the elders of his town, “This son of ours is disloyal and defiant; he does not heed us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

uregamuhu kol-anshe iro va'avanim vamet uvi'arta hara miqqirbekha vekhol-yisra'el yishme'u veyira'u

Thereupon the people of his town shall stone him to death. Thus you will sweep out evil from your midst: all Israel will hear and be afraid.

vekhi-yihyeh ve'ish khet mishpat-mavet vehumat vetalita oto al-ets

If someone is guilty of a capital offense and is put to death, and you impale the body on a stake,

lo-talin nivlato al-ha'ets ki-qavor tiqberennu bayyom hahu ki-qillat elohim taluy velo tetamme et-admatekha asher Adonai elohekha noten lekha nakhalah

you must not let the corpse remain on the stake overnight, but must bury it the same day. For an impaled body is an affront to God: you shall not defile the land that the ETERNAL your God is giving you to possess.