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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=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Deuteronomy 21 New American Bible</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><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="/bmcc/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/catholic">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NABRE</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">New American Bible Revised Edition</td><td width="1%" valign="top"></td></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><section id="ch05021" class="chapter"> <h1 id="cn05021" class="cn"></h1> <p class="pf"><span class="hemb">Absolution of Untraced Murder.<a id="rfn05021001-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021001-1">*</a></span> <span id="v05021001" class="ver">1</span>If the corpse of someone who has been slain is found lying in the open, in the land the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed the person, <span id="v05021002" class="ver">2</span>your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distances to the cities that are in the neighborhood of the corpse. <span id="v05021003" class="ver">3</span><a id="ren05021003-a" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021003-a">a</a> When it is established which city is nearest the corpse, the elders of that city shall take a heifer that has never been put to work or worn a yoke; <span id="v05021004" class="ver">4</span>the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a wadi with an everflowing stream at a place that has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the wadi. <span id="v05021005" class="ver">5</span>The priests, the descendants of Levi, shall come forward, for the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, has chosen them to minister to him and to bless in the name of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, and every case of dispute or assault shall be for them to decide. <span id="v05021006" class="ver">6</span>Then all the elders of that city nearest the corpse shall wash their hands<a id="rfn05021006-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021006-1">*</a> over the heifer whose neck was broken in the wadi, <span id="v05021007" class="ver">7</span>and shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood,<a id="rfn05021007-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021007-1">*</a> and our eyes did not see the deed. <span id="v05021008" class="ver">8</span>Absolve, O <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not let the guilt of shedding innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel.” Thus they shall be absolved from the guilt of bloodshed, <span id="v05021009" class="ver">9</span>and you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, and do what is right in the eyes of the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>.<a id="ren05021009-b" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021009-b">b</a></p> <p class="psec"><span class="hemb">Marriage with a Female Captive.</span> <span id="v05021010" class="ver">10</span><a id="ren05021010-c" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021010-c">c</a> When you go out to war against your enemies and the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, delivers them into your power, so that you take captives, <span id="v05021011" class="ver">11</span>if you see a beautiful woman among the captives and become so enamored of her that you wish to have her as a wife, <span id="v05021012" class="ver">12</span>and so you take her home to your house, she must shave her head,<a id="rfn05021012-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021012-1">*</a> cut her nails, <span id="v05021013" class="ver">13</span>lay aside her captive’s garb, and stay in your house, mourning her father and mother for a full month. After that, you may come to her, and you shall be her husband and she shall be your wife. <span id="v05021014" class="ver">14</span>If later on you lose your liking for her, you shall give her her freedom, if she wishes it; you must not sell her for money. Do not enslave her, since you have violated her.<a id="ren05021014-d" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021014-d">d</a></p> <p class="psec"><span class="hemb">Rights of the Firstborn.</span> <span id="v05021015" class="ver">15</span><a id="ren05021015-e" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021015-e">e</a> If a man has two wives, one loved and the other unloved, and if both the loved and the unloved bear him sons, but the firstborn is the son of the unloved wife: <span id="v05021016" class="ver">16</span>when he comes to bequeath his property to his sons he may not consider as his firstborn the son of the wife he loves, in preference to the son of the wife he does not love, the firstborn. <span id="v05021017" class="ver">17</span>On the contrary, he shall recognize as his firstborn the son of the unloved wife, giving him a double share of whatever he happens to own, since he is the first fruits of his manhood, and to him belong the rights of the firstborn.<a id="ren05021017-f" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021017-f">f</a></p> <p class="psec"><span class="hemb">The Stubborn and Rebellious Son.</span> <span id="v05021018" class="ver">18</span><a id="ren05021018-g" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021018-g">g</a> If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not listen to his father or mother, and will not listen to them even though they discipline him,<a id="ren05021018-h" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021018-h">h</a> <span id="v05021019" class="ver">19</span>his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders at the gate<a id="rfn05021019-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021019-1">*</a> of his home city, <span id="v05021020" class="ver">20</span>where they shall say to the elders of the city, “This son of ours is a stubborn and rebellious fellow who will not listen to us; he is a glutton and a drunkard.”<a id="ren05021020-i" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021020-i">i</a> <span id="v05021021" class="ver">21</span>Then all his fellow citizens shall stone him to death. Thus shall you purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.<a id="ren05021021-j" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021021-j">j</a></p> <p class="psec"><span class="hemb">Corpse of a Criminal.</span> <span id="v05021022" class="ver">22</span><a id="ren05021022-k" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021022-k">k</a> If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and you hang him on a tree,<a id="rfn05021022-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021022-1">*</a> <span id="v05021023" class="ver">23</span>his corpse shall not remain on the tree overnight.<a id="ren05021023-l" class="enref" href="footnotes.htm#en05021023-l">l</a> You must bury it the same day; anyone who is hanged is a curse of God.<a id="rfn05021023-1" class="fnref" href="footnotes.htm#fn05021023-1">*</a> You shall not defile the land which the <span class="tetr">Lord</span>, your God, is giving you as a heritage.</p> </section> <br /><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="intro.htm"><span class="ac">Book Introduction</span></a></h1><h1 class="cn"><a class="xref" href="footnotes.htm"><span class="ac">Footnotes</span></a></h1></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center">Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the <i>New American Bible, revised edition</i> © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. 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