| New Living Translation | King James Bible |
| 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. | 1If 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: |
| 2In such a case, your elders and judges must measure the distance from the site of the crime to the nearby towns. | 2Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: |
| 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. | 3And 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; |
| 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. | 4And 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: |
| 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. | 5And 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“The elders of the town must wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken. | 6And 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: |
| 7Then they must say, ‘Our hands did not shed this person’s blood, nor did we see it happen. | 7And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. |
| 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. | 8Be 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. |
| 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 | 9So 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“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. | 10When 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, |
| 11And suppose you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you are attracted to her and want to marry her. | 11And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; |
| 12If this happens, you may take her to your home, where she must shave her head, cut her nails, | 12Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; |
| 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. | 13And 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. |
| 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 | 14And 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“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. | 15If 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: |
| 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. | 16Then 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: |
| 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 | 17But 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“Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. | 18If 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: |
| 19In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. | 19Then 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; |
| 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.’ | 20And 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. |
| 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 | 21And 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“If someone has committed a crime worthy of death and is executed and hung on a tree, | 22And 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: |
| 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. | 23His 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. |
| 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. | King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. |
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