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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Deuteronomy 21</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/bsb/spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/deuteronomy/21.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" 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id="topheading"><a href="../deuteronomy/20.htm" title="Deuteronomy 20">◄</a> Deuteronomy 21 <a href="../deuteronomy/22.htm" title="Deuteronomy 22">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div align="center" id="jump2"><a href="/niv/deuteronomy/21.htm">NIV</a> • <a href="/nlt/deuteronomy/21.htm">NLT</a> • <a href="/esv/deuteronomy/21.htm">ESV</a> • <a href="/kjv/deuteronomy/21.htm">KJV</a> • <a href="/nkjv/deuteronomy/21.htm">NKJ</a> • <a href="/nasb/deuteronomy/21.htm">NAS</a></div><br /><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="1%" valign="top">BSB</td><td width="99%" valign="top" align="right"><a href="/parallel/deuteronomy/21.htm" style="font-weight:normal" title="Parallel Chapters">Parallel Chapters ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><A name="2"></a><p class="hdg">Atonement for an Unsolved Murder<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, <A name="3"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities. <A name="4"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work, <A name="5"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream. <A name="6"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault. <A name="7"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken, <A name="8"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. <A name="9"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” <p class="reg"> And the bloodshed will be atoned for. <A name="10"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD. <A name="11"></a><p class="hdg">Marrying a Captive Woman<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive, <A name="12"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife, <A name="13"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails, <A name="14"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>and put aside the clothing of her captivity. <p class="reg"> After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. <A name="15"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her. <A name="16"></a><p class="hdg">Inheritance Rights of the Firstborn<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son, <A name="17"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife. <A name="18"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him. <A name="19"></a><p class="hdg">A Rebellious Son<br /><span class="cross">(<a href ="../luke/15.htm#11">Luke 15:11–32</a>)</span><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined, <A name="20"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown, <A name="21"></a><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.” <A name="22"></a><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">a</a></span> and all Israel will hear and be afraid. <A name="23"></a><p class="hdg">Cursed Is Anyone Hung on a Tree<p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">b</a></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="/deuteronomy/21-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse.<span class="fn"><a href="#fn">c</a></span> You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.</p><A name="fn"></a><div id="fnlink"><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:</b><br><br><span class="fnverse">21</span> <span class="footnotesbot">a</span> Cited in <a href="../1_corinthians/5.htm#13">1 Corinthians 5:13</a><br><span class="fnverse">22</span> <span class="footnotesbot">b</span> Or <i>impale his body on a pole</i><span class="thin"> </span>; similarly in verse 23<br><span class="fnverse">23</span> <span class="footnotesbot">c</span> LXX; Hebrew <i>anyone who is hanged is under God’s curse</i><span class="thin"> </span>; cited in <a href="../galatians/3.htm#13">Galatians 3:13</a><br><br /></div><br /></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Berean Bible (<a href=http://berean.bible>www.Berean.Bible</a>) <a href=http://bereanbible.com>Berean Study Bible (BSB)</a> © 2016, 2020 by <a href=http://biblehub.com>Bible Hub</a> and <a href=http://berean.bible>Berean.Bible</a>. 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