Deuteronomy 21:1-9 - Unsolved Murders
1 "If someone slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it [and] [is] lying in the field, [and] it is not known who {killed him}, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure [the distance] to the cities that [are] around the slain one. 3 {And then} the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with [in the field], that has not pulled a yoke, 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a {wadi that flows with water all year} and [that] has not been plowed and has not been sown; [then] {there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi}. 5 Then the priests, the descendants of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to bless in the name of Yahweh, and every legal dispute and every [case of] assault will be {subject to their ruling}. 6 And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer [with] the broken neck in the wadi. 7 And they shall declare, and they shall say, 'Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see [what was done]. 8 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.' 9 And [so] you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.