When the verdict was reached, he was taken out to be stoned. The stoning site was outside of beth-din [far from beth-din, so that when they were conducting him there something might be found in his defense and he be exonerated], viz. (Leviticus 24:14): "Take the curser outside, etc." One man would stand at the entrance of beth-din with the scarves in his hand [to wave as a sign to return him], and another would ride on a horse (as) far from him as he could (still) see him. If someone says: "I have something to say in his defense," the first waves the scarves and the rider runs and stops (the execution). And even if he says: "I have something to say in my defense," he is returned, even four or five times, so long as there is substance in what he says. [And if there is no substance in what he says, he is returned only the first and second times, on the possibility that his fright had "stopped up" his defense and that he might regain his self-possession and formulate his claims. But he is not returned more than this. And he is provided with two Torah scholars to determine whether there is substance in his words, in which instance he is returned four or five times.] If they found something in his favor, he was acquitted. If not, he is taken out to be stoned. And a crier goes out before him, (proclaiming): "This man is taken out to be stoned because he committed this and this transgression, and so and so are his witnesses" [that he committed this and this transgression at this and this time at this and this place — this, to render them subject to hazamah.]

At a distance of ten cubits from the stoning site he is told: "Confess." [For when he is close to it, he might panic and not be able to confess.] For all who are to be put to death confess. For all who confess have a share in the world to come, viz., Achan, who was told by Joshua (Joshua 7:19): "My son, confer, now, glory upon the L rd, the G d of Israel, and make confession to Him [(And even though one is not executed by his own confession, the execution of Achan was dictated by the circumstances.)] …And Achan answered Joshua and said: 'In truth, I have sinned to the L rd, the G d of Israel and as thus and as thus have I done.'" [The Gemara explains that he misappropriated the spoils in the time of Moses.] And whence do we derive that his confession atoned for him? From (Ibid. 25): "And Joshua said: 'How you have sullied us! May the L rd sully you on this day!'" — you are sullied on this day, but not for the world to come. And if he does not know how to confess, he is told: "Say: 'Let my death be an atonement for all of my sins.'" R. Yehudah says: If he knows that he was falsely testified against, he says: "Let my death be an atonement for all of my transgressions except this one." This was countered: If so, all men (sentenced to death) will say this in order to acquit themselves [in the eyes of their fellows and thus come to discredit the judges and the witnesses. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.]

At a distance of four cubits from the stoning site, they remove his clothing, [it being written (Leviticus 24:23): "And they stoned him" — without his garment.] A man is covered in front [i.e., a small section in front (his genitals)], and a woman (is covered) in front and in back. These are the words of R. Yehudah. [The halachah is not in accordance with R. Yehudah.] And the sages say: A man is stoned naked (except for that one region), but a woman is not stoned naked, (i.e., she must be fully clothed)].

The stoning site [from which he was thrown to the ground] was two (men's) heights. If he turned over on his heart, (facing the ground), he is turned over on his back, [for lying prone is more demeaning.] If he dies from it (i.e., from the fall), the requirement (of stoning) is satisfied; and if not, the second (witness) takes the stone and casts it at his heart. If he dies from that, the requirement is satisfied. If not, he is stoned by all of Israel, viz. (Deuteronomy 17:7): "The hand of the witnesses shall be against him first to kill him, and the hand of all the people afterwards." All of those who are stoned are (afterwards) hung up. These are the words of R. Eliezer. And the sages say: Only the blasphemer [of the L rd] and the idolator are hung up, [the idolator also being a blasphemer, viz. (Numbers 15:30): "And the soul who acts with a high hand … it is the L rd whom he blasphemes." And that section speaks of idolatry.] A man is hung up facing the people, and a woman facing the wood. These are the words of R. Eliezer. The sages say: A man is hung up and a woman is not hung up. R. Eliezer countered: "Did not Shimon b. Shetach hang up women in Ashkelon?" They answered: He hung up eighty women, and two are not judged [in one beth-din] in one day. [For it is not possible to seek a defense for each of them (in one day). So that the hanging up of those women must have been dictated by the circumstances, and cannot serve as a precedent. The halachah is not in accordance with R. Eliezer.] How is he hung up (after he is executed)? A pole is sunk in the ground with a beam projecting from it, and his two hands are joined (and bound) together, and he is hung up [by his hands]. R. Yossi says: The beam is placed against the wall, and he is suspended upon it, as butchers do (with slaughtered animals). [It was not rooted in the ground, but one of its ends was on the ground, and the other inclined against the wall. The rationale of R. Yossi: The wood on which he was suspended was buried with him, and the Torah states (Deuteronomy 21:23): "But bury shall you bury him" — he who lacks only burying; to exclude that which lacks digging up, uprooting, and burying. And the (rationale of the) rabbis: Digging up is of no import. The Torah excluded only its being rooted from the beginning. The halachah is in accordance with the sages.] And he is let down immediately. And if he is allowed to remain there overnight, he (the one who allows it) transgresses a negative commandment, viz. (Deuteronomy 21:23): "You shall not leave his body overnight on a tree, but bury shall you bury it on that day; for killelath G d is suspended, etc." That is, why is this one suspended? Because he "blessed" (a euphemism for "cursed" - killel) the L rd, so that the name of Heaven is desecrated (by leaving him — a reminder of the curse — hanging there.)

R. Meir says: When a man suffers [punishment because of his transgression], what does it (the Shechinah) say, (as it were) [i.e., How does it utter plaint and grievance over him?] "Kalani meroshi" ["My head is heavy upon me"], Kalani mizro'i" ["My arm is heavy upon me" (as one who is fatigued;) "kalani" = "I am not 'light'"] If the L rd is thus aggrieved over the blood of the wicked that is spilled, how much more so over the blood of the righteous! And not only this [i.e., not only one who leaves an executed man hanging overnight transgresses], but whoever leaves his dead one (unburied) overnight transgresses a negative commandment. If he left him overnight for his honor, to bring a casket or shrouds for him, he does not transgress. And they would not bury him (one executed by beth-din) in the crypts of his forefathers, [for an evildoer is not buried next to a righteous man], but there were two burial grounds allotted to beth-din, one for those killed by the sword or by strangulation, and the other, for those killed by stoning or burning. [For one who was liable to a very severe death is not buried next to one who was liable to a lesser one. It is a received law: two, and not four.]

When the flesh decays [and he has already received atonement through his death and debasement], the bones are gathered and buried in their place [in the ancestral crypts], and the kin (of the deceased) come and solicit the well-being of the judges and of the witnesses, viz.: "We have nothing in our hearts against you, for you judged a righteous judgment." And they would not mourn them (publicly), [so that their debasement be an atonement for them. Others say: Because mourning (aveiluth) obtains when the grave is closed with the top-stone, and at that time they are not mourned, for their atonement is not complete until the flesh is decayed; and since mourning was pushed off, it remains so.] But they would lament them, for "lamentation" (aninuth) is in the heart alone.