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:
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:
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:
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.
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.
10 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive,
11 And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.
14 And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.
15 If a man have two wives, one beloved, and another hated, and they have born him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated:
16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, which is indeed the firstborn:
17 But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
18 If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;
20 And they shall say unto 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.
21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
22 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

1 If one bee found slaine in the lande, which the Lord thy God giueth thee to possesse it, lying in the fielde, and it bee not knowen who hath slaine him:

2 Then thy Elders and thy Iudges shall come forth, and they shall measure vnto the cities which are round about him that is slaine.

3 And it shall be that the citie which is next vnto the slaine man, euen the Elders of that citie shall take an heifer which hath not bene wrought with, and which hath not drawen in the yoke.

4 And the Elders of that citie shall bring downe the heifer vnto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sowen, and shall strike off the heifers necke there in the valley.

5 And the Priests the sonnes of Leui shall come neere (for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister vnto him, and to blesse in the Name of the Lord: ) and by their worde shall euery controuersie and euery stroke bee tried.

6 And all the Elders of that city that are next vnto the slaine man, shal wash their hands ouer the heifer that is beheaded in the valley.

7 And they shall answere, and say, Our hands haue not shedde this blood, neither haue our eyes seene it.

8 Be merciful, O Lord, vnto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood vnto thy people of Israels charge, and the blood shall be forgiuen them.

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.

10 When thou goest forth to warre against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath deliuered them into thine hands, & thou hast taken them captiue,

11 And seest among the captiues a beautifull woman, and hast a desire vnto her, that thou wouldest haue her to thy wife:

12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and shee shall shaue her head, and pare her nailes.

13 And shee shall put the raiment of her captiuitie from off her, and shall remaine in thine house, and bewaile her father and her mother a full moneth: and after that, thou shalt go in vnto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

14 And it shall be if thou haue no delight in her, then thou shalt let her goe whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her at al for money, thou shalt not make merchandize of her, because thou hast humbled her.

15 If a man haue two wiues, one beloued and another hated, and they haue borne him children, both the beloned, and the hated: and if the first borne sonne be hers that was hated:

16 Then it shall be, when he maketh his sonnes to inherite that which hee hath, that he may not make the sonne of the beloued, first borne, before the sonne of the hated, which is indeed the first borne:

17 But hee shall acknowledge the sonne of the hated for the first borne, by giuing him a double portion of all that hee hath: for hee is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first borne is his.

18 If a man haue a stubborne and rebellious sonne, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that when they haue chastened him, wil not hearken vnto them:

19 Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out vnto the Elders of his citie, and vnto the gate of his place:

20 And they shall say vnto the Elders of his citie, This our sonne is stubborne, and rebellious, hee will not obey our voice: he is a glutton, & a drunkard.

21 And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that hee die: so shalt thou put euill away from among you, and all Israel shall heare, & feare.

22 And if a man haue committed a sinne worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

23 His body shall not remaine all night vpon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day: for he that is hanged, is accursed of God: that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giueth thee for an inheritance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V == Deut 10:8 ; 17:8-9 ; 1st Chr 23:13

 

 

VI == Ps 19:12 ; 26:6 ; Matt 27:24

 

 

 

VIII == Jon 1:14

 

 

 

IX == Deut 19:13

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII == Ps 45:10

 

 

 

 

XIV == Gen 34:2 ; Deut 22:29 ; Judg 19:24

 

 

XV == Gen 29:33

 

 

XVI == Gen 25:31 , 33 ; 49:3 ; 1st Chr 5:1-2 ; 26:10 ; 2nd Chr 11:19 , 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XXI == Deut 13:5 , 11 ; 19:19-20 ; 22:21 , 24

 

XXII == Deut 19:6 ; 22:26 ; Acts 10:39 ; 23:29 ; 25:11 , 25 ; 26:31

 

XXIII == Lev 18:25 ; Num 35:34 ; Josh 8:29 ; 10:26-27 ; John 19:31 ; Gal 3:13

1 "If the corpse of a slain man is found lying in the open on the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you to occupy, and it is not known who killed him,

2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distances to the cities that are in the neighborhood of the corpse.

3 When it is established which city is nearest the corpse, the elders of that city shall take a heifer that has never been put to work as a draft animal under a yoke,

4 and bringing it down to a wadi with an everflowing stream at a place that has not been plowed or sown, they shall cut the heifer's throat there in the wadi.

5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, shall also be present, for the LORD, your God, has chosen them to minister to him and to give blessings in his name, and every case of dispute or violence must be settled by their decision.

6 Then all the elders of that city nearest the corpse shall wash their hands over the heifer whose throat was cut in the wadi,

7 and shall declare, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see the deed.

8 Absolve, O LORD, your people Israel, whom you have ransomed, and let not the guilt of shedding innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel.' Thus they shall be absolved from the guilt of bloodshed,

9 and you shall purge from your midst the guilt of innocent blood, that you may prosper for doing what is right in the sight of the LORD.

10 "When you go out to war against your enemies and the LORD, your God, delivers them into your hand, so that you take captives,

11 if you see a comely woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as wife,

12 you may take her home to your house. But before she may live there, she must shave her head and pare her nails

13 and lay aside her captive's garb. After she has mourned her father and mother for a full month, you may have relations with her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife.

14 However, if later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; but you shall not sell her or enslave her, since she was married to you under compulsion.

15 "If a man with two wives loves one and dislikes the other; and if both bear him sons, but the first-born is of her whom he dislikes:

16 when he comes to bequeath his property to his sons he may not consider as his first-born the son of the wife he loves, in preference to his true first-born, the son of the wife whom he dislikes.

17 On the contrary, he shall recognize as his first-born the son of her whom he dislikes, giving him a double share of whatever he happens to own, since he is the first fruits of his manhood, and to him belong the rights of the first-born.

18 "If a man has a stubborn and unruly son who will not listen to his father or mother, and will not obey them even though they chastise him,

19 his father and mother shall have him apprehended and brought out to the elders at the gate of his home city,

20 where they shall say to those city elders, 'This son of ours is a stubborn and unruly fellow who will not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.'

21 Then all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel, on hearing of it, shall fear.

22 "If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his corpse hung on a tree,

23 it shall not remain on the tree overnight. You shall bury it the same day; otherwise, since God's curse rests on him who hangs on a tree, you will defile the land which the LORD, your God, is giving you as an inheritance.

v 1-9. If a person was found dead in the field, the elders of the nearest city were to take a heifer which had never been worked to a rough, untended valley and cut off her head. Then the priests and all the elders of that city shall wash their hands over her body, declaring their innocence and lack of knowledge about the death of the person, asking the Lord not to lay innocent blood at their charge. The men who threw Jonah overboard asked the same prayer of the Lord, Jon. 1:14. In mercy, Stephen asked a similar prayer for the people who were stoning him, “lay not this sin to their charge”, Act 7:60. The Jews must have been amazed when Pilate washed his hands in front of them and said, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it”, Mt. 27:24.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 10-14. A captive woman was to shave her head, trim her nails and bewail her a month before she could be taken to wife. If he didn’t like her, he could release but not sell her because he had humbled her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 15-17. A man with two wives must give the double portion to the first born whether he likes her best or not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

v 18-21. Parents bring a perpetually stubborn and rebellious son to the elders of the city at the city gate, declare his fault, and the city’s men would stone him to death.

 

 

 

 

v 22,23. Any man hanged was not to be left on the tree that night, but taken down and buried the same day.