21"Suppose someone is found murdered in a field in the land that the LORD your God is going to give you, and you do not know who killed him.H4672H2491H127H3068H430H5414H3423H5307H7704H3045H52212Your leaders and judges are to go out and measure the distance from the place where the body was found to each of the nearby towns.H2205H8199H3318H4058H5892H5439H24913Then the leaders of the town nearest to where the body was found are to select a young cow that has never been used for work.H5892H7138H2491H2205H5892H3947H1241H5697H5647H4900H59234They are to take it down to a spot near a stream that never runs dry and where the ground has never been plowed or planted, and there they are to break its neck.H2205H5892H3381H5697H386H5158H5647H2232H6202H5697H6202H51585The levitical priests are to go there also, because they are to decide every legal case involving violence. The LORD your God has chosen them to serve him and to pronounce blessings in his name.H3548H1121H3878H5066H3068H430H977H8334H1288H8034H3068H6310H7379H50616Then all the leaders from the town nearest the place where the murdered person was found are to wash their hands over the cowH2205H5892H7138H2491H7364H3027H5697H6202H51587and say, 'We did not murder this one, and we do not know who did it.H6030H559H3027H8210H1818H5869H72008LORD, forgive your people Israel, whom you rescued from Egypt. Forgive us and do not hold us responsible for the murder of an innocent person.'H3722H3068H5971H3478H6299H5414H5355H1818H5971H3478H7130H1818H37229And so, by doing what the LORD requires, you will not be held responsible for the murder.H1197H5355H1818H7130H6213H3477H5869H3068
Concerning Women Prisoners of War
10"When the LORD your God gives you victory in battle and you take prisoners,H3318H4421H341H3068H430H5414H3027H7617H762811you may see among them a beautiful woman that you like and want to marry.H7200H7633H8389H3303H802H2836H3947H80212Take her to your home, where she will shave her head, cut her fingernails,H935H8432H1004H1548H7218H6213H685613and change her clothes. She is to stay in your home and mourn for her parents for a month; after that, you may marry her.H5493H8071H7628H3427H1004H1058H1H517H3117H3391H310H935H1166H80214Later, if you no longer want her, you are to let her go free. Since you forced her to have intercourse with you, you cannot treat her as a slave and sell her.H2654H7971H5315H4376H4376H3701H6014H834H6031
Concerning the First Son’s Inheritance
15"Suppose a man has two wives and they both bear him sons, but the first son is not the child of his favorite wife.H376H8147H802H259H157H259H8130H3205H1121H157H8130H1060H1121H814616When the man decides how he is going to divide his property among his children, he is not to show partiality to the son of his favorite wife by giving him the share that belongs to the first-born son.H3117H1121H5157H3201H1121H157H1069H6440H1121H8130H106017He is to give a double share of his possessions to his first son, even though he is not the son of his favorite wife. A man must acknowledge his first son and give him the share he is legally entitled to.H5234H1121H8130H1060H5414H8147H6310H4672H7225H202H4941H1062
Concerning a Disobedient Son
18"Suppose someone has a son who is stubborn and rebellious, a son who will not obey his parents, even though they punish him.H376H5637H4784H1121H8085H6963H1H6963H517H3256H808519His parents are to take him before the leaders of the town where he lives and make him stand trial.H1H517H8610H3318H2205H5892H8179H472520They are to say to them, 'Our son is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey us; he wastes money and is a drunkard.'H559H2205H5892H1121H5637H4784H8085H6963H2151H543321Then the men of the city are to stone him to death, and so you will get rid of this evil. Everyone in Israel will hear what has happened and be afraid.H582H5892H7275H68H4191H1197H7451H1197H7130H3478H8085H3372
Various Laws
22"If someone has been put to death for a crime and the body is hung on a post,H376H2399H4941H4194H4191H8518H608623it is not to remain there overnight. It must be buried the same day, because a dead body hanging on a post brings God's curse on the land. Bury the body, so that you will not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you.H5038H3885H6086H6912H6912H3117H8518H7045H430H127H2930H3068H430H5414H5159