1If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it , lying in the field , and it be not known who hath smitten him ; 2then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth , and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain : 3and it shall be , that the city which is nearest unto the slain man , even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd , which hath not been wrought with , and which hath not drawn in the yoke ; 4and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown , and shall break the heifer ’s neck there in the valley . 5And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near ; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him , and to bless in the name of Jehovah ; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be . 6And all the elders of that city , who are nearest unto the slain man , shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley ; 7and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood , neither have our eyes seen it . 8Forgive , O Jehovah , thy people Israel , whom thou hast redeemed , and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel . And the blood shall be forgiven them . 9So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee , when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah .
Rights of Firstborn Sons
10When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies , and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands , and thou carriest them away captive , 11and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her , and wouldest take her to thee to wife; 12then thou shalt bring her home to thy house ; and she shall shave her head , and pare her nails ; 13and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her , and shall remain in thy 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. 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 deal with her as a slave , because thou hast humbled her . 15If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated , and they have borne him children , both the beloved and the hated ; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated ; 16then it shall be , in the day that he causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath , that he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born before the son of the hated , who is the first-born: 17but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the hated , by giving him a double portion of all that he hath ; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his .
Rebellious Sons
18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son , that will not obey the voice of his father , or the voice of his mother, and , though they chasten him , will not hearken unto them ; 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 ; 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. 21And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee ; and all Israel shall hear , and fear .
Various Laws on Execution and Burial
22And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death , and he be put to death , and thou hang him on a tree ; 23his body shall not remain all night upon the tree , but thou shalt surely bury him the same day ; for he that is hanged is accursed of God ; that thou defile not thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance .