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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 ISV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><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" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/deuteronomy/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">ISV</a> > Deuteronomy 21</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div 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 class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">International Standard Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/isv/esv/deuteronomy/21.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="heading">Atonement for Unsolved Murder</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>“If a murder victim is found fallen in the open country of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>then let your elders and judges go out and measure the distance from the dead body to the neighboring cities. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>Then the elders of the city nearest the body are to take a heifer that hasn’t been put to work or hasn’t pulled a yoke <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>and<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:4 Lit. The elders of the city">a</a></span> are to lead the heifer to a flowing stream in a valley that has never been tilled or planted. They are to break the heifer’s neck there. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>Then the priests of the sons of Levi are to step forward, because the LORD your God chose them to serve and pronounce blessings in his name.<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:5 Lit. in the name of the LORD your God">b</a></span> Every case of dispute and assault is to be subject to their ruling. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>All the elders of the city nearest the dead body are to wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>and they are to make this declaration: ‘Our hands didn’t shed this blood, nor were we witnesses to the crime. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>Make atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and don’t charge the blood of an innocent man against them.’<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:8 Lit. against your people Israel">c</a></span> Then the blood shed will be atoned for. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>This is how you will remove the guilt of innocent blood from among you, for you must do what is right in the sight of the LORD.”</p> <p class="heading">Marriage to a War Captive</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>“If you go to battle against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your control, you may take some prisoners captive. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>If you see among the prisoners a beautiful woman and you desire her, then you may take her as your wife. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>Bring her to your house, but shave her head and trim her nails. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>Remove her prisoner’s clothing and let her remain for a month in your house, mourning her parents. After that, you may<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:13 Lit. may go in to her,">d</a></span> become her husband and she is to become your wife. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>If you aren’t pleased with her and you send her away, you must not sell her for money or mistreat her, since you will have dishonored her.”</p> <p class="heading">Preferential Treatment Prohibited</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>“If a man has two wives where one is loved but the other is unloved, and both<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:15 Lit. the one who is loved and who is not loved">e</a></span> of them bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>then when he bequeaths his possessions to his sons, he must not give preference to the firstborn of the beloved wife over the firstborn of the unloved wife. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn of the unloved wife by giving him double of everything he owns, because he is really the first fruit of his father’s<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:17 The Heb. lacks father’s">f</a></span> strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.”</p> <p class="heading">Death to a Rebellious Son</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>“If a man has a stubborn son who does not obey his parents,<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:18 Lit. obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother">g</a></span> and although they try to discipline him, he still refuses to pay attention to them, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>then his parents<span class="fn"><a href="#ftn" title="21:19 Lit. his father and his mother">h</a></span> are to seize him and bring him before the elders at the gate of his city. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>Then they are to declare to the elders of their city: ‘Our son is stubborn and rebellious. He does not obey us. He lives wildly and is a drunkard.’ <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>Then all the men of his city are to stone him with stones so that he dies. This is how you will remove this evil from among you. Then all Israel will hear of it and will be afraid.”</p> <p class="heading">Burial of the Executed</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>“If a man is guilty of a capital offense, is executed, and then is impaled on a tree, <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/21-23.htm"><b>23</b></a></span>his body must not remain overnight on the tree. You must bury him that same day, because cursed of God is the one who has been hanged on a tree. Don’t defile your land that the LORD is about to give you as your inheritance.”</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="ftn"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="fn1"><span class="fnb">a</span> 21:4 Lit. <i>The elders of the city</i><br /><span class="fnb">b</span> 21:5 Lit. <i>in the name of the LORD your God</i><br /><span class="fnb">c</span> 21:8 Lit. <i>against your people Israel</i><br /><span class="fnb">d</span> 21:13 Lit. <i>may go in to her,</i><br /><span class="fnb">e</span> 21:15 Lit. <i>the one who is loved and who is not loved</i><br /><span class="fnb">f</span> 21:17 The Heb. lacks <i>father’s</i><br /><span class="fnb">g</span> 21:18 Lit. <i>obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother</i><br /><span class="fnb">h</span> 21:19 Lit. <i>his father and his mother</i><br /></span><br><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><div align="center"><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1<br />Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation<br />ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="left"><a href="../deuteronomy/20.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Deuteronomy 20"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Deuteronomy 20" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../deuteronomy/22.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Deuteronomy 22"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Deuteronomy 22" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="rightbox"><div class="padright"><div id="pic"><iframe width="100%" height="860" scrolling="no" src="//biblescan.com/mpc/deuteronomy/21-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></div></div><div id="rightbox4"><div class="padright2"><div id="spons1"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tr><td class="sp1"><iframe width="122" height="860" scrolling="no" src="../sidemenu.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div id="bot"><div align="center" style="background-color:#F2FAFF"><br /><br /><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"><script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></div></td></tr></table><br /><br /><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td><div align="center"><script type="text/javascript"> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script></div></td></tr></table></div><br /><br /> </div><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="//biblehu.com/botmenubhnm2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe><div align="center"><span class="p"><br /><br /><br /></span></div></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>