Deuteronomy 21:1-9

New American Standard Bible 1995

Expiation of a Crime

21 “If a slain person is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God gives you to ^[a]possess, and it is not known who has struck him, ² then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. ³ It shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; ⁴ and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. ⁵ Then ^(A)the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and every ^[b]assault ^[c]shall be settled by them. ⁶ All the elders of that city ^[d]which is nearest to the slain man shall ^(B)wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; ⁷ and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. ^8 [e]Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Lord, and do not place the guilt of ^(C)innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be ^[f]forgiven them. ^9 (D)So you shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.