Quando inventum fuerit in terra, quam Dominus Deus tuus daturus est tibi, hominis cadaver occisi, et ignorabitur cædis reus,

When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is guilty of the murder,

When, in this land of thine, a dead man’s body is found and there is no knowing who slew him,

egredientur majores natu, et judices tui, et metientur a loco cadaveris singularum per circuitum spatia civitatum:

Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:

elders and judges must betake themselves to the spot where he lies, and find by measurement which of the neighbouring cities is nearest at hand.

et quam viciniorem ceteris esse perspexerint, seniores civitatis illius tollent vitulam de armento, quæ non traxit jugum, nec terram scidit vomere,

And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

It is for the elders of the nearest city to do what must be done. They will choose out from the herd a heifer that has never borne yoke or ploughed furrow,

et ducent eam ad vallem asperam atque saxosam, quæ numquam arata est, nec sementem recepit: et cædent in ea cervices vitulæ:

And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that never was ploughed, nor sown: and there they shall strike off the head of the heifer:

and in some wild and rugged glen, that was never ploughed or sown, this heifer must have its neck broken.

accedentque sacerdotes filii Levi, quos elegerit Dominus Deus tuus ut ministrent ei, et benedicant in nomine ejus, et ad verbum eorum omne negotium, et quidquid mundum, vel immundum est, judicetur.

And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean or unclean should be judged.

Priests must be there, of Levi’s race; these are the men whom the Lord thy God has chosen to minister to him, and give their blessing in his name, and also to decide between right and wrong, clean and unclean.

Et venient majores natu civitatis illius ad interfectum, lavabuntque manus suas super vitulam, quæ in valle percussa est,

And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

And the elders of this neighbouring city, close to the dead man, will wash their hands over the heifer that lies slain in the glen,

et dicent: Manus nostræ non effuderunt sanguinem hunc, nec oculi viderunt:

And shall say: Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

protesting, Not ours the hand that shed this blood; our eyes never witnessed the deed;

propitius esto populo tuo Israël, quem redemisti, Domine, et ne reputes sanguinem innocentem in medio populi tui Israël. Et auferetur ab eis reatus sanguinis:

Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:

be merciful, Lord, to Israel, the people thou hast claimed for thyself; do not charge Israel, thy own people, with guilt because it is stained with an innocent man’s blood. So shall they be quit of all blame for the murder.

tu autem alienus eris ab innocentis cruore, qui fusus est, cum feceris quod præcepit Dominus.

And thou shalt be free from the innocent’s blood, that was shed, when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

Do my bidding, and the guilt of blood wrongfully shed shall never rest upon thee.

Si egressus fueris ad pugnam contra inimicos tuos, et tradiderit eos Dominus Deus tuus in manu tua, captivosque duxeris,

If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,

When the Lord gives thee victory over thy enemies in battle, and thou bringest back prisoners,

et videris in numero captivorum mulierem pulchram, et adamaveris eam, voluerisque habere uxorem,

And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,

dost thou see among them a woman so fair that she wins thy heart, and thou wouldst marry her?

introduces eam in domum tuam: quæ radet cæsariem, et circumcidet ungues,

Thou shalt bring her into thy house: and she shall shave her hair, and pare her nails,

Take her, then, into thy house; and there she must shave her head and pare her nails close,

et deponet vestem, in qua capta est: sedensque in domo tua, flebit patrem et matrem suam uno mense: et postea intrabis ad eam, dormiesque cum illa, et erit uxor tua.

And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken: and shall remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.

and lay aside the garb of a captive, that she wore till now. Let her have a month, dwelling in thy house, to bewail the loss of her father and mother; then thou mayest take her to thy bed and make her thy wife.

Si autem postea non sederit animo tuo, dimittes eam liberam, nec vendere poteris pecunia, nec opprimere per potentiam: quia humiliasti eam.

But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might because thou hast humbled her.

But if, afterwards, she does not answer thy mood, she must go free; thou hast no power to sell her or exercise lordship over her, when once thou hast robbed her of maidenhood.

Si habuerit homo uxores duas, unam dilectam, et alteram odiosam, genuerintque ex eo liberos, et fuerit filius odiosæ primogenitus,

If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the firstborn,

If a man twice married loves one wife and is weary of the other, and has children by both, but his first-born by the wife he spurns,

volueritque substantiam inter filios suos dividere, non poterit filium dilectæ facere primogenitum, et præferre filio odiosæ:

And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons: he may not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before the son of the hated.

how shall he divide up his possessions between them? He shall have no power to make the son of the loved wife his heir, in preference to that other.

sed filium odiosæ agnoscet primogenitum, dabitque ei de his quæ habuerit cuncta duplicia: iste est enim principium liberorum ejus, et huic debentur primogenita.

But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn, and shall give him a double portion of all he hath: for this is the first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.

Recognize the first-born he must, though of the mother he be weary; a double share of all his goods belongs to the son that was engendered first; the birthright is his.

Si genuerit homo filium contumacem et protervum, qui non audiat patris aut matris imperium, et coërcitus obedire contempserit:

If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth obedience:

Is there a son so rebellious and unmanageable that he defies his parents’ bidding, and will not brook restraint?

apprehendent eum, et ducent ad seniores civitatis illius, et ad portam judicii,

They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city, and to the gate of judgment,

Such a son they must bring by force to the city gate, where the elders are assembled,

dicentque ad eos: Filius noster iste protervus et contumax est: monita nostra audire contemnit, comessationibus vacat, et luxuriæ atque conviviis:

And shall say to them: This our son is rebellious and stubborn, he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling, and to debauchery and banquetings:

and make complaint to them, This son of ours is rebellious and unmanageable; he pays no heed to our remonstrances, but must ever be carousing, ever at his wantonness and his cups.

lapidibus eum obruet populus civitatis, et morietur, ut auferatis malum de medio vestri, et universus Israël audiens pertimescat.

The people of the city shall stone him: and he shall die, that you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel hearing it may be afraid.

Thereupon the citizens shall stone him to death, so that you may be rid of this plague, and every Israelite that hears of it may be afraid to do the like.

Quando peccaverit homo quod morte plectendum est, et adjudicatus morti appensus fuerit in patibulo:

When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:

When a man is guilty of a capital crime, and his sentence is to hang on a gallows,

non permanebit cadaver ejus in ligno, sed in eadem die sepelietur: quia maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno: et nequaquam contaminabis terram tuam, quam Dominus Deus tuus dederit tibi in possessionem.

His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the same day: for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree: and thou shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in possession.

his body must not be left to hang there on the gibbet, it must be buried the same day. God’s curse lies on the man who hangs on a gibbet, and the land which the Lord thy God gives thee for thy own must not suffer pollution.