{"meta":{"source":"Prime Bible","sourceUrl":"https://primebible.com","license":"Public domain (translation text); see citation policy at /citation-policy","organization":"501(c)(3) nonprofit — EIN 41-2531951","canonicalUrl":"https://primebible.com/asv/deuteronomy/21","llmTxt":"https://primebible.com/llms.txt","generatedAt":"2026-06-10T04:54:53.461Z"},"reference":{"translation":"ASV","book":"Deuteronomy","bookSlug":"deuteronomy","chapter":21,"testament":"OLD"},"navigation":{"previousChapter":20,"nextChapter":22,"totalChapters":34,"totalVerses":23},"verses":[{"verseNumber":1,"text":"If one be found slain in the land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath smitten him;"},{"verseNumber":2,"text":"then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain:"},{"verseNumber":3,"text":"and it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the yoke;"},{"verseNumber":4,"text":"and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley."},{"verseNumber":5,"text":"And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for them Jehovah thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah; and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be."},{"verseNumber":6,"text":"And all the elders of that city, who are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley;"},{"verseNumber":7,"text":"and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it."},{"verseNumber":8,"text":"Forgive, O Jehovah, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them."},{"verseNumber":9,"text":"So shalt thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee, when thou shalt do that which is right in the eyes of Jehovah."},{"verseNumber":10,"text":"When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and Jehovah thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou carriest them away captive,"},{"verseNumber":11,"text":"and seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife;"},{"verseNumber":12,"text":"then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails;"},{"verseNumber":13,"text":"and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife."},{"verseNumber":14,"text":"And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not deal with her as a slave, because thou hast humbled her."},{"verseNumber":15,"text":"If a man have two wives, the one beloved, and the other hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated;"},{"verseNumber":16,"text":"then it shall be, in the day that he causeth his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved the first-born before the son of the hated, who is the first-born:"},{"verseNumber":17,"text":"but he shall acknowledge the first-born, the son of the hated, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath; for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his."},{"verseNumber":18,"text":"If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, that will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and, though they chasten him, will not hearken unto them;"},{"verseNumber":19,"text":"then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;"},{"verseNumber":20,"text":"and they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard."},{"verseNumber":21,"text":"And all the men of his city shall stone him to death with stones: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee; and all Israel shall hear, and fear."},{"verseNumber":22,"text":"And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree;"},{"verseNumber":23,"text":"his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt surely bury him the same day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thou defile not thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance."}],"citation":{"inline":"Deuteronomy 21 (ASV)","markdown":"[Deuteronomy 21](https://primebible.com/asv/deuteronomy/21)","sbl":"Prime Bible. *The Bible.* ASV. https://primebible.com/asv/deuteronomy/21 (accessed 2026-06-10)."}}