Deuteronomy 21

Deuteronomy Chapter 21 KJV

1The expiation of a murder, when the slayer is unknown. 10The usage of a captive taken to wife. 15The firstborn not to be disinherited upon private affection. 18A rebellious son must be stoned to death. 22The malefactor must not hang all night on a tree.
1 If one 1be found slain in the 2land 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 1thy 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 1heifer, 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 1rough 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 1hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the Lord; and 2by their aword shall every controversy and every stroke be tried:
6 And all the elders of that city, that are next unto the slain man, shall 1wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley:
7 And they shall answer and say, 1Our 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 1lay not innocent blood aunto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.
9 So 1shalt 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 1thine 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 1desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
12 Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall 1shave her head, and apare her nails;
13 And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and 1bewail 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 1shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not 2make merchandise of her, because thou hast 3humbled her.
15 ¶ If a man 1have 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 1maketh 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 1shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, by giving him a double portion of all athat he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.
18 ¶ If a man 1have 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 1unto 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 1a glutton, and a drunkard.
21 And 1all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so 2shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear.
22 ¶ And if a man have committed a sin worthy 1of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou 2hang him on a tree:
23 His body shall not 1remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for 2he that is hanged is aaccursed of God;) that 3thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 21