1   When a dead body is found lying in open country, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to occupy, and it is not known who struck the blow, 2   your elders and your judges shall come out and measure the distance to the surrounding towns to find which is nearest. 3   The elders of that town shall take a heifer that has never been mated ^note or worn a yoke, 4   and bring it down to a ravine where there is a stream that never runs dry and the ground is never tilled or sown, and there in the ravine they shall break its neck. 5   The priests, the sons of Levi, shall then come forward; for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the Lord, and their voice shall be decisive in all cases of dispute and assault. 6   Then all the elders of the town nearest to the dead body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck has been broken in the ravine. 7   They shall solemnly declare: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did we witness the bloodshed. 8   Accept expiation, O Lord, for thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, and do not let the guilt of innocent blood rest upon thy

God's laws delivered by Moses people Israel: let this bloodshed be expiated on their behalf.’ 9   Thus, by doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord, you shall rid yourselves of the guilt of innocent blood.

10   When you wage war against your enemy and the Lord your God delivers them into your hands and you take some of them captive, 11   then if you see a comely woman among the captives and take a liking to her, you may marry her. 12   You shall bring her into your house, where she shall shave her head, 13   pare her nails, and discard the clothes which she had when captured. Then she shall stay in your house and mourn for her father and mother for a full month. After that you may have intercourse with her; you shall be her husband and she your wife. 14   But if you no longer find her pleasing, let her go free. You must not sell her, nor treat her harshly, since you have had your will with her.

15   When a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, if they both bear him sons, and the son of the unloved wife is the elder, 16   then, when the day comes for him to divide his property among his sons, he shall not treat the son of the loved wife as his first-born in contempt of his true first-born, the son of the unloved wife. 17   He shall recognize the rights of his first-born, the son of the unloved wife, and give him a double share of all that he possesses; for he was the firstfruits of his manhood, and the right of the first-born is his.

18   When a man has a son who is disobedient and out of control, and will not obey his father or his mother, or pay attention when they punish him, 19   then his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of the town, at the town gate. 20   They shall say to the elders of the town, ‘This son of ours is disobedient and out of control; he will not obey us, he is a wastrel and a drunkard.’ 21   Then all the men of the town shall stone him to death, and you will thereby rid yourselves of this wickedness. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.

22   When a man is convicted of a capital offence and is put to death, you shall hang him on a gibbet; 23   but his body shall not remain on the gibbet overnight; you shall bury it on the same day, for a hanged man is offensive ^note in the sight of God. You shall not pollute the land which the Lord your God is giving you as your patrimony.

Previous section

Next section