Deuteronomy 21:8

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them." And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Lord, wipe away the guilt of your people Israel whom you redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them.’ Then the responsibility for bloodshed will be wiped away from them.

Hebrew Names Version
Forgive, the LORD, your people Yisra'el, whom you have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of your people Yisra'el. The blood shall be forgiven them.

King James Version
Be merciful, O Lord , unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

Lexham English Bible
Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and do not allow the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven with regard to blood.'

English Standard Version
Accept atonement, O Lord , for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and do not set the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, so that their blood guilt be atoned for.'

New Century Version
Lord , remove this sin from your people Israel, whom you have saved. Don't blame your people, the Israelites, for the murder of this innocent person." And so the murder will be paid for.

New English Translation
Do not blame your people Israel whom you redeemed, O Lord , and do not hold them accountable for the bloodshed of an innocent person." Then atonement will be made for the bloodshed.

Amplified Bible
'Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O LORD, and do not put the guilt of innocent blood among Your people Israel.' And the guilt of blood shall be forgiven them.

New American Standard Bible
'Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, LORD, and do not place the guilt for innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.' And the guilt for bloodshed shall be forgiven them.

Geneva Bible (1587)
O Lord, be mercifull vnto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay no innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel, and the blood shalbe forgiuen them.

Legacy Standard Bible
Atone for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.' And the bloodguiltiness shall be atoned for them.

Contemporary English Version
But since an innocent person was murdered, we beg you, our Lord , to accept this sacrifice and forgive Israel. We are your people, and you rescued us. Please don't hold this crime against us." If you obey the Lord and do these things, he will forgive Israel.

Complete Jewish Bible
Adonai , forgive your people Isra'el, whom you redeemed; do not allow innocent blood to be shed among your people Isra'el.' And they will be forgiven this bloodshed.

Darby Translation
Forgive thy people Israel, whom thou, Jehovah, hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel; and the blood shall be expiated for them.

Easy-to-Read Version
Lord , you saved your people Israel. Now make us pure. Don't blame us for killing an innocent person.' In this way these men will not be blamed for killing an innocent person.

George Lamsa Translation
Pardon, O LORD, thy people Israel, whom thou hast saved, and lay not innocent blood upon thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be forgiven them.

Good News Translation
Lord , forgive your people Israel, whom you rescued from Egypt. Forgive us and do not hold us responsible for the murder of an innocent person.'

Literal Translation
O Jehovah, be merciful to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not allow innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Be mercifull (O LORDE) vnto thy people of Israel, who thou hast delyuered, laye no innocent bloude vnto thy people of Israels charge: then shall they be reconcyled from the bloude.

American Standard Version
Forgive, O Jehovah, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

Bible in Basic English
Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Be mercifull Lorde vnto thy people Israel which thou hast deliuered, and lay no innocent blood vnto thy people of Israels charge. And the blood shalbe forgeuen them.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Forgive, O LORD, Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of Thy people Israel.' And the blood shall be forgiven them.

King James Version (1611)
Be merciful, O Lord, vnto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood vnto thy people of Israels charge, and the blood shall be forgiuen them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O Lord, that innocent blood may not be charged on thy people Israel: and the blood shall be atoned for to them.

English Revised Version
Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and suffer not innocent blood to remain in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Lord, be mercyful to thi puple Israel, whom thou `ayen brouytist, and arette thou not innocent blood in the myddis of thi puple Israel. And the gilt of blood schal be don awey fro hem.

Young's Literal Translation
receive atonement for Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast ransomed, O Jehovah, and suffer not innocent blood in the midst of Thy people Israel; and the blood hath been pardoned to them,

Update Bible Version
Forgive, O Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

Webster's Bible Translation
Be merciful, O LORD, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood to the charge of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them.

World English Bible
Forgive, Yahweh, your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and don't allow innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of your people Israel. The blood shall be forgiven them.

New King James Version
Provide atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.' And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood.

New Living Translation
O Lord , forgive your people Israel whom you have redeemed. Do not charge your people with the guilt of murdering an innocent person.' Then they will be absolved of the guilt of this person's blood.

New Life Bible
O Lord, forgive Your people Israel whom You have set free. Do not put the guilt of killing a man who did no wrong on Your people Israel.' And they will be forgiven from the guilt of the man's death.

New Revised Standard
Absolve, O Lord , your people Israel, whom you redeemed; do not let the guilt of innocent blood remain in the midst of your people Israel." Then they will be absolved of bloodguilt.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Be propitious unto thy people Israel whom thou hast redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not impute innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel. So shall they obtain propitiation for the guilt of shedding blood.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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:

Revised Standard Version
Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and set not the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel; but let the guilt of blood be forgiven them.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Forgive Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O LORD, and do not place the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.' And the bloodguiltiness shall be forgiven them.

Contextual Overview

¹If one is found slain, 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 neighboring cities. ³Then the elders of the city nearest the victim shall take a heifer that has never been yoked or used for work, ⁴bring the heifer to a valley with running water that has not been plowed or sown, and break its neck there by the stream. ⁵And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to serve Him and pronounce blessings in His name and to give a ruling in every dispute and case of assault. ⁶Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken, ⁷and they shall declare, "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. ⁸Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them." And the bloodshed will be atoned for.⁹So you shall purge from among you the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

lay not: Numbers 35:33, 2 Samuel 3:28, 2 Kings 24:4, Psalms 19:12, Jeremiah 26:15, Ezekiel 23:3, Ezekiel 23:24, Ezekiel 23:25, Jonah 1:14, Matthew 23:35, 1 Thessalonians 2:15, 1 Thessalonians 2:16

unto thy people: Heb. in the midst

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 9:26 - which thou hast brought forth Deuteronomy 19:10 - General 1 Kings 2:31 - that thou 2 Kings 21:16 - Manasseh Psalms 67:1 - God

Cross-References

Genesis 19:3
But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Genesis 26:30
So Isaac prepared a feast for them, and they ate and drank.

Genesis 29:22
So Laban invited all the men of that place and prepared a feast.

Genesis 40:20
On the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

Judges 14:10
Then his father went to visit the woman, and Samson prepared a feast there, as was customary for the bridegroom.

Judges 14:12
"Let me tell you a riddle," Samson said to them. "If you can solve it for me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.

1 Samuel 1:22
but Hannah did not go. "After the boy is weaned," she said to her husband, "I will take him to appear before the LORD and to stay there always."

1 Samuel 25:36
When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

2 Samuel 3:20
When Abner and twenty of his men came to David at Hebron, David held a feast for them.

1 Kings 3:15
Then Solomon awoke, and indeed it had been a dream. So he returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Be merciful, O Lord, to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed,.... Out of Egyptian bondage, and claimed as his own; and therefore it is requested he would be favourable to them, and show them mercy, and not punish them for a sin they were entirely ignorant of, though done by some one among them, whom as yet they could not discover. The words seem to be the words of the elders continued, who having made a declaration of their innocence, humbly request mercy of God, not only for themselves, but for all the people of Israel; yet, both the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan take them to be the words of the priests, and so does Jarchi, and the same is affirmed in the Misnah z:

and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge; impute not the guilt of innocent blood to a people in general, when only a single person, and he unknown, is chargeable with it: or put it not "in the midst" of thy people; let it not be placed to the whole, because it cannot be found out whose it is, though it is certain it is one in the midst of them:

and the blood shall be forgiven them; that is, God will not impute it, and place it to their account, or lay it to their charge; but will graciously consider the beheading of the heifer as an expiation of it: it is said in the Misnah a,

"if the murderer is found before the heifer is beheaded, it goes forth and feeds among the herd; but if after it is beheaded, it is buried in the same place; and again, if the heifer is beheaded, and after that the murderer is found, he shall be slain;''

so the Targums, and Jarchi on the next verse.

z Ut supra. (Sotah. c. 9. sect. 5.) a Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 9. sect. 7.