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The Fifth Book of Moses: Called Deuteronomy, Chapter 21
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1 |
If 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:
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2 |
Then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and
they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is
slain:
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3 |
And 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;
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4 |
And 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:
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5 |
And 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:
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6 |
And 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:
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7 |
And
they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither
have our eyes seen it.
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8 |
Be 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.
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9 |
So 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.
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10 |
When 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,
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11 |
And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and
hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife;
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12 |
Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house, and she shall shave her
head, and pare her nails;
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13 |
And 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.
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14 |
And 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.
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15 |
If 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:
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16 |
Then 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:
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17 |
But 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.
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18 |
If 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:
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19 |
Then 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;
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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 a glutton, and a
drunkard.
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21 |
And 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.
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22 |
And 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:
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23 |
His 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.
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