Deuteronomy 21:1–9

Unsolved Murders

21“If a murder victim is found lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ²your elders and judges must come out and measure the distance from the victim to the nearby cities. ³The elders of the city nearest to the victim are to get a young cow that has not been yoked or used for work. ⁴The elders of that city will bring the cow down to a continually flowing stream, to a place not tilled or sown, and they will break its neck there by the stream. ⁵Then the priests, the sons of Levi, will come forward, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name, and they are to give a ruling in ⁱevery dispute and case of assault. ⁶All the elders of the city nearest to the victim will wash their hands by the stream over the young cow whose neck has been broken. ⁷They will declare, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood; our eyes did not see it. ⁸Lord, forgive Your people Israel You redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.’ Then they will be absolved of responsibility for bloodshed. ⁹You must purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, for you will be doing what is right in the Lord’s sight.