When a Murder Is Committed, but the Murderer Can’t Be Found

21 This is what you must do if you find a murder victim lying in a field in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. If no one knows who committed the murder, ² your leaders and judges must go and measure the distance from the body to each of the neighboring cities. ³ When it has been determined which city is nearest the body, the leaders from that city must choose a heifer that has never been put to work and never worn a yoke.^{[a] 4} The leaders of that city will bring the heifer down to a river, to a location where the land hasn’t been plowed or planted. At the river they must break the heifer’s neck. ⁵ The priests, the descendants of Levi, must come forward. The Lord your God has chosen them to serve him as priests and to bless people in the Lord’s name. Their decision is final in all cases involving a disagreement or an assault. ⁶ All the leaders from the city which was nearest the murder victim must wash their hands over the dead heifer. ⁷ Then they must make this formal statement: “We didn’t commit this murder, and we didn’t witness it. ⁸ Lord, make peace with your people Israel, whom you freed. Don’t let the guilt of this unsolved murder remain among your people Israel.” Then there will be peace with the Lord despite the murder. ⁹ This is how you will get rid of the guilt of an unsolved murder by doing what the Lord considers right.

Laws about Marriage and Family

¹⁰ When you go to war with your enemies and the Lord your God hands them over to you, you may take them captive. ¹¹ If you see a beautiful woman among the captives and have your heart set on her, you may marry her. ¹² Bring her into your home. She must shave her head, cut her nails, ¹³ and no longer wear the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. Then she may live in your house and mourn ⌞the loss of⌟ her father and mother for one month. After that, you may sleep with her. Then you will become husband and wife.

¹⁴ But if it happens that you are no longer pleased with her, let her go wherever she wants. You must never sell her or mistreat her as if she were a slave, since you’ve already had sex with her.

¹⁵ A man might have two wives and love one but not the other. Both wives might have children, and the firstborn son might belong to the wife that the man doesn’t love. ¹⁶ When the day comes for the father to give his sons their inheritance, he can’t treat the son of the wife he loves as if that son were the firstborn. This would show a total disregard for the real firstborn (the son of the wife he doesn’t love). ¹⁷ Instead, he must recognize the son of the wife he doesn’t love as the firstborn. He must give that son a double portion of whatever he owns. That son is the very first son he had. The rights of the firstborn son are his.

¹⁸ Parents might have a stubborn and rebellious son who doesn’t obey them. Even though they punish him, he still won’t listen to them. ¹⁹ His father and mother must take him to the leaders of the city at the city gate. ²⁰ They will say to the leaders of the city, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He won’t obey us. He eats too much and is a drunk.” ²¹ All the men of the city should stone him to death. You must get rid of this evil. When all Israel hears about it, they will be afraid.

Various Laws

²² When a convicted person is put to death, ²³ never leave his dead body hung on a pole overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is hung on a pole is cursed by God. The land that the Lord your God is giving you must never become unclean.^[b]

22 If you see another Israelite’s ox or sheep out where it doesn’t belong, don’t pretend that you don’t see it. Make sure you take it back. ² If the owner doesn’t live near you or you don’t know who owns it, take the animal home with you. Keep it until the owner comes looking for it. Then give it back. ³ Do the same if you find a donkey, some clothes, or anything else that another Israelite may have lost. Don’t pretend that you don’t know what to do.

⁴ If you see another Israelite’s donkey or ox lying on the road, don’t pretend that you don’t see it. Make sure you help him get it back on its feet.

⁵ A woman must never wear anything men would wear, and a man must never wear women’s clothes. Whoever does this is disgusting to the Lord your God.

⁶ Whenever you’re traveling and find a nest containing chicks or eggs, this is what you must do. If the mother bird is sitting on the nest, never take her with the chicks. ⁷ You may take the chicks, but make sure you let the mother go. Then things will go well for you, and you will live for a long time.

⁸ Whenever you build a new house, put a railing around the edge of the roof. Then you won’t be responsible for a death at your home if someone falls off the roof.

⁹ Never plant anything between the rows in your vineyard. Otherwise, you will have to give everything that grows there to the holy place. This includes the crop you planted and the grapes from the vineyard.

¹⁰ Never plow with an ox and a donkey harnessed together.

¹¹ Never wear clothes made of wool and linen woven together.

¹² Make tassels on the four corners of the shawl you wear over your clothes.

Laws about Sex and Marriage

¹³ A man might marry a woman, sleep with her, and decide he doesn’t like her. ¹⁴ Then he might make up charges against her and ruin her reputation by saying, “I married this woman. But when I slept with her, I found out she wasn’t a virgin.” ¹⁵ The girl’s father and mother must go to the city gate where the leaders of the city are and submit the evidence that their daughter was a virgin. ¹⁶ The girl’s father will tell the leaders, “I gave my daughter in marriage to this man, but he doesn’t like her. ¹⁷ Now he has made up charges against her. He says he found out that my daughter wasn’t a virgin. But here’s the evidence!” Then the girl’s parents must spread out the cloth in front of the leaders of the city. ¹⁸ The leaders of that city must take the man and punish him. ¹⁹ They will fine him 2¼ pounds of silver and give it to the girl’s father. The husband ruined the reputation of an Israelite virgin. She will continue to be his wife, and he can never divorce her as long as he lives.

²⁰ But if the charge is true, and no evidence that the girl was a virgin can be found, ²¹ they must take the girl to the entrance of her father’s house. The men of her city must stone her to death because she has committed such a godless act in Israel: She had sex before marriage, while she was still living in her father’s house. You must get rid of this evil.

²² If a man is caught having sexual intercourse with a married woman, both that man and the woman must die. You must get rid of this evil in Israel.

²³ This is what you must do when a man has sexual intercourse with a virgin who is engaged to another man. If this happens in a city, ²⁴ take them to the gate of the city and stone them to death. The girl must die because she was in a city and didn’t scream for help. The man must die because he had sex with another man’s wife. You must get rid of this evil.

²⁵ But if a man rapes an engaged girl out in the country, then only the man must die. ²⁶ Don’t do anything to the girl. She has not committed a sin for which she deserves to die. This is like the case of someone who attacks and murders another person. ²⁷ The man found the girl out in the country. She may have screamed for help, but no one was there to rescue her.

²⁸ This is what you must do when a man rapes a virgin who isn’t engaged. When the crime is discovered, ²⁹ the man who had sexual intercourse with her must give the girl’s father 1¼ pounds of silver, and she will become his wife. Since he raped her, he can never divorce her as long as he lives.^[c]

³⁰ A man must never marry his father’s wife because this would disgrace his father.