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Deuteronomy 21

Various laws address unsolved murders (a heifer ritual), rights of firstborn sons in polygamous households, rebellious sons (brought before elders), and the treatment of executed criminals whose bodies must not remain on a tree overnight. The ceremonial unsolved murder ritual demonstrates the seriousness of bloodguilt.

DeuteronomyChapter 21 of 3423 versesBerean Standard Bible

Read Deuteronomy 21 and keep notes on it in Doxa's Daily Faith Steps.

1

If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him,

2

your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the neighboring cities.

3

Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work,

4

bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream.

5

And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault.

6

Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

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and they shall declare, “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

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Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

9

So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

10

When you go to war against your enemies and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand and you take them captive,

11

if you see a beautiful woman among them, and you desire her and want to take her as your wife,

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then you shall bring her into your house. She must shave her head, trim her nails,

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and put aside the clothing of her captivity. After she has lived in your house a full month and mourned her father and mother, you may have relations with her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife.

14

And if you are not pleased with her, you are to let her go wherever she wishes. But you must not sell her for money or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.

15

If a man has two wives, one beloved and the other unloved, and both bear him sons, but the unloved wife has the firstborn son,

Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 49: Why would the older serve the younger?

16

when that man assigns his inheritance to his sons he must not appoint the son of the beloved wife as the firstborn over the son of the unloved wife.

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Instead, he must acknowledge the firstborn, the son of his unloved wife, by giving him a double portion of all that he has. For that son is the firstfruits of his father’s strength; the right of the firstborn belongs to him.

Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 49: Why would the older serve the younger?

Quoted in the Daily Lift, day 50: What was Esau's birthright?

18

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and does not listen to them when disciplined,

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his father and mother are to lay hold of him and bring him to the elders of his city, to the gate of his hometown,

Quoted in the Deeper Dive, day 41: What did the gates of their enemies mean?

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and say to the elders, “This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard.”

21

Then all the men of his city will stone him to death. So you must purge the evil from among you, and all Israel will hear and be afraid.

22

If a man has committed a sin worthy of death, and he is executed, and you hang his body on a tree,

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you must not leave the body on the tree overnight, but you must be sure to bury him that day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not defile the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.

↗Fulfilled inGalatians 3:13

Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole — Christ became a curse for us

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.””

Read Galatians 3:13›
“Quoted inGalatians 3:13

Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole — Christ redeemed us

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.””

Read Galatians 3:13›
How to Hear God’s Voice: A Practical Guide for BelieversScripture is the record of a God who speaks. This guide covers how to hear Him today and keep what He says.

Cross-references for Deuteronomy 21

  • Deuteronomy 21:51 Chronicles 23:13

    “The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.”

  • Deuteronomy 21:5Deuteronomy 10:8

    “At that time the LORD set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to serve Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name, as they do to this day.”

  • Deuteronomy 21:15Genesis 29:33

    “Again she conceived and gave birth to a son, and she said, “Because the LORD has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this son as well.” So she named him Simeon.”

  • Deuteronomy 21:23Galatians 3:13

    “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.””

  • Deuteronomy 21:23John 19:31

    “It was the day of Preparation, and the next day was a High Sabbath. In order that the bodies would not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, the Jews asked Pilate to have the legs broken and the bodies removed.”

Cross-references from OpenBible.info, licensed CC BY.

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