Deuteronomy 21:1–9

¹If one is found slain, lying in a field in the land that 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.