NSB(i)
1 »This is what you must do if you find a murder victim lying in a field in the land that Jehovah your God is giving you. If no one knows who committed the murder,
2 your elders and judges must go and measure the distance from the body to each of the neighboring cities.
3 »When it is determined which city is nearest the body, the elders from that city must choose a heifer that has never been put to work and never worn a yoke.
4 »The elders of that city will bring the heifer down to a river, to a location where the land has not been plowed or planted. At the river they must break the heifer's neck.
5 »Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near. Jehovah your God has chosen them to serve him and to bless in the name of Jehovah. They will settle every dispute and every assault.
6 »All the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley.
7 »They will answer: ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did we see it.
8 »‘Forgive your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O Jehovah. Do not hold us responsible for the murder of an innocent person.’ Forgive them of bloodguilt.
9 »Remove the guilt of innocent blood from your midst. Do what is right in the eyes of Jehovah’s.