The young woman’s father and mother take the bloodstained sheet to the elders of the city in the gate (see 21.19).

Alternative translation models for this verse are:

• If this happens, the girl’s father and mother must go to the town gate and show the town leaders the blood-stained bed sheet to prove that the girl was a virgin.

• If this happens, the girl’s father and mother must take the bed sheet with the blood stains on it to the town gate to show to the town leaders. This will prove that the girl was a virgin.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .