Chapter 21
1 Suppose the body of a murder victim is found in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you, and no one knows who the murderer is.
2 The judges and other leaders from the towns around there must find out what town is the closest to where the body was found.
3 The leaders from that town will go to their cattle herds and choose a young cow that has never been put to work.
4 The priests must be there, because the Lord your God has chosen them to be his special servants at the place of worship. The Lord has chosen them to bless the people in his name and to be judges in all legal cases, whether property or injury is involved.
5 The town leaders will wash their hands over the body of the dead cow
6 and say, "We had no part in this murder, and we don’t know who did it.
7 If you obey the Lord and do these things, he will forgive Israel. Moses said to Israel:
8 From time to time, you men will serve as soldiers and go off to war. The Lord your God will help you defeat your enemies, and you will take many prisoners.
9 Later on, if you are not happy with the woman, you can divorce her, and she can go free. But you have slept with her as your wife, so you cannot sell her as a slave or make her into your own slave. Moses said to Israel:
10 Moses said to Israel:
11 A father and a mother may have a stubborn and rebellious son who refuses to obey them even after he has been punished.
12 If a son is like that, his parents must drag him to the town gate, where the leaders of the town hold their meetings.
13 The parents will tell the leaders, "This son of ours is stubborn and never obeys. He spends all his time drinking and partying."
14 The men of the town will stone that son to death, because they must get rid of the evil he brought into the community. Everyone in Israel will be afraid when they hear how he was punished. Moses said to Israel:
15 If a criminal is put to death, and you hang the dead body on a tree,
16 you must not leave it there overnight. Bury it the same day, because the dead body of a criminal hanging on a tree will bring God’s curse on the land. The Lord your God is giving this land to you, so don’t make it unclean by leaving the bodies of executed criminals on display.