Deuteronomy 21
The full text of Deuteronomy 21 in the Trinity Bible Version — clear modern English, translated from the original Hebrew. Free to read.
1 If someone is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed the person,
2 your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns.
3 Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke
4 and lead it down to a valley with a flowing stream that has not been plowed or planted. There in the valley they are to break the heifer's neck.
5 The Levitical priests shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault.
6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
7 and they shall declare: "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done.
8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person." Then the bloodshed will be atoned for,
9 and you will have purged from yourselves 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 hands and you take captives,
11 if you notice among the captives a beautiful woman and are attracted to her, you may take her as your wife.
12 Bring her into your home and have her shave her head, trim her nails
13 and put aside the clothes she was captured in. After she has lived in your house and mourned her father and mother for a full month, then you may go to her and be her husband and she shall be your wife.
14 If you are not pleased with her, let her go wherever she wishes. You must not sell her or treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored her.
15 If a man has two wives, and he loves one but not the other, and both bear him sons but the firstborn is the son of the wife he does not love,
16 when he wills his property to his sons, he must not give the rights of the firstborn to the son of the wife he loves in preference to his actual firstborn, the son of the wife he does not love.
17 He must acknowledge the son of the wife he does not love as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father's strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him.
18 If someone has a stubborn and rebellious son who does not obey his father and mother and will not listen to them when they discipline him,
19 his father and mother shall take hold of him and bring him to the elders at the gate of his town.
20 They shall say to the elders, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey us. He is a glutton and a drunkard."
21 Then all the men of his town shall stone him to death. You must purge the evil from among you. All Israel will hear of it and be afraid.
22 If someone guilty of a capital offense is put to death and their body is hung on a pole,
23 you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.
Translation notes (13)
- Deuteronomy 21:4a The Hebrew phrase nachal eitan, translated 'A valley with a flowing stream,' refers to an ever-flowing wadi. The unplowed, unsown ground and the running water belong to a symbolic rite for removing unattributed bloodguilt from the community. This is not a sacrifice, as no priest performs it as an offering.
- Deuteronomy 21:8a The Hebrew phrase kapper le'amkha, meaning "Accept this atonement," is a prayer asking the LORD to cleanse the community of bloodguilt when a killer cannot be identified; this plea is based on God's redemption of Israel from Egypt.
- Deuteronomy 21:10a This verse introduces the law concerning a captive wife (verses 10-14), which regulates taking a woman captured in war as a wife. The assumptions and moral implications of this law are heavily debated; the faithful text is presented here, and the moral and theological questions are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review.
- Deuteronomy 21:11a This law assumes a context of war captivity; verses 12-14 impose constraints, such as a mourning period, no sale, and no enslavement, which were unusual for the ancient world. The moral implications and the captive woman's lack of consent are significant issues that are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review (see note at verse 10).
- Deuteronomy 21:12a Shaving the head, trimming the nails, and changing clothing (mentioned in verse 13) are rituals of transition and mourning, signifying the captive woman's separation from her former life before marriage. These are part of the constrained captive-wife law (see note at verse 10).
- Deuteronomy 21:13a The law imposes a constraint of a full month of mourning for her parents before the marriage is completed. The captive woman's lack of consent and the moral implications of this law are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review (see note at verse 10).
- Deuteronomy 21:14a If the marriage ends, the woman goes free; she may not be sold or enslaved "because you have dishonored her." The Hebrew word 'innitah is a strong verb meaning humiliation, often implying sexual violation. Both the protective limits and the serious assumptions of this law are present; its ethics are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review (see note at verse 10).
- Deuteronomy 21:15a The phrase "the one he does not love" translates the Hebrew word senu'ah, which literally means "hated." In Hebrew legal language concerning co-wives, this term refers to the less-favored wife, not necessarily one who is actively hated (compare Genesis 29:31; this same idiom is also found in Malachi 1:2-3 and Romans 9:13).
- Deuteronomy 21:17a The phrase "a double share" translates the Hebrew pi shenayim, which literally means "a mouth or portion of two"; this is the firstborn's birthright, meaning he receives twice what each other son receives. The phrase "the first sign of his father's strength" (Hebrew: re'shit ono) is an idiom referring to the firstborn son.
- Deuteronomy 21:18a This verse introduces the law of the stubborn and rebellious son (verses 18-21), which prescribes the death penalty for a son who is persistently unmanageable. This is one of the most severe and debated laws in the Torah; the faithful text is presented here, and its ethics and theology are not decided in this draft but are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review.
- Deuteronomy 21:20a The Hebrew phrase zolel vesove', translated as "glutton and drunkard," describes a dissolute and reckless way of living; this same accusation is later made against Jesus (Matthew 11:19; Luke 7:34). The severity of this law is reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review (see note at verse 18).
- Deuteronomy 21:21a This law concludes with the death penalty by communal stoning for the unmanageable son. It is among the most severe laws in the Torah; the faithful text is presented without softening, and its ethics and theology are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review (see note at verse 18).
- Deuteronomy 21:23a The phrase "Anyone who is hung on a pole is under God's curse" translates the Hebrew qilelat 'elohim talui and is quoted by Paul in Galatians 3:13 concerning the crucified Christ. The Hebrew phrase itself is unclear; it can mean either "a curse from God" (the hanged man is cursed) or "an affront or insult to God" (the exposed body dishonors God's land). The interpretation of this phrase in relation to Christ and its broader meaning are not decided in this draft but are reserved for broader discussion and scholarly review.
About this translation
The Trinity Bible Version (TBV) is Trinity Bible's own translation of Scripture, made directly from the original Hebrew rather than revised from an older English Bible. Completed in 2026, it is the most modern English Bible translation available, and it is exclusive to Trinity Bible. Reading the TBV here on the web is free — the full study edition, with original-language tools and notes on every verse, lives in the Trinity Bible app.
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