Deuteronomy 21

A. 1 If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him:

B. 2 Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: 3 And it shall be, that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take an heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke; 4 And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley:

C. 5 And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them the LORD thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:

B’. 6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:  7 And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.  8 Be merciful, O LORD, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel’s charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

A’. 9 So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.

A. 10 “When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, 11 and you see among the captives a beautiful woman,

B. and you desire to take her to be your wife, 12 and you bring her home to your house,

C. she shall shave her head and pare her nails. 13 And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month.

B’. After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

A’. 14 But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

A. 15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him children, and if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved,

B. 16 then on the day when he assigns his possessions as an inheritance to his sons,

C. he may not treat the son of the loved as the firstborn in preference to the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn,

A’. 17 but he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved,

B’. by giving him a double portion of all that he has,

C’. for he is the firstfruits of his strength. The right of the firstborn is his.

A. 18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them,

B. 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives,

A’. 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

B’. 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear.

A. 22 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree,

B. 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree,

B’. but you shall bury him the same day,

A’. for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance.

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