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If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death:
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Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured ;
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And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke;
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And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken:
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Then the priests , the sons of Levi , are to come near ; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord ; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged:
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And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley,
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Will say , This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it.
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Have mercy, O Lord , on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death.
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So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord .
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When you go out to war against other nations, and the Lord your God gives them up into your hands and you take them as prisoners ;
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If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife ;
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Then take her back to your house ; and let her hair and her nails be cut;
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And let her take off the dress in which she was made prisoner and go on living in your house and weeping for her father and mother for a full month: and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife .
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But if you have no delight in her, you are to let her go wherever she will; you may not take a price for her as if she was your property, for you have made use of her for your pleasure.
15
If a man has two wives , one greatly loved and the other hated , and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife :
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Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son , the son of the hated wife:
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But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first -fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.
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If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother , and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment :
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Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town , to the public place ;
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And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us ; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink.
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Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town : so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel , hearing of it, will be full of fear .
22
If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree ;
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Do not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day ; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God ; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage .