Deu 21:1-9 | NASB2020 | STEP | “If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess , and it is not known who struck him,

Deuteronomy 21:1-9

Expiation of a Crime

1 “If a person who has been killed by someone is found lying in the open country in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to ^{▼▼Lit possess it}possess, and it is not known who struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the one who was killed. 3 And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the person killed, that is, that the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked ^{▼▼Lit which has not}and 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 they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then ^cthe priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, because the Lord your God has chosen them to serve Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and every dispute and ^{▼▼Lit blow}violent crime shall be ^{▼▼Lit according to their mouth}settled by them. 6 And all the elders of that city ^{▼▼Lit who are}which is nearest to the person killed shall ^gwash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall respond and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see who did. 8 ^{▼▼Lit Cover over, atone for}Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, Lord, and do not place the guilt for ⁱinnocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the guilt for bloodshed shall be ^{▼▼Lit covered over, atoned for}forgiven them. 9 ^kSo you shall remove the guilt for innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.