Deuteronomy — Chapter 19

1When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses,

2then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

3You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities.

4Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:

5If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber and swings his axe to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes and kills his neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities to save his life.

6Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.

7This is why I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

8And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them,

9and if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you today, loving the LORD your God and walking in His ways at all times, then you are to add three more cities to these three.

10Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

11If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,

12the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.

13You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.

14You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

15A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,

17both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.

18The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,

19you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.

20Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you.

21You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

1When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;

2Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

3Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.

4And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;

5As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live:

6Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

7Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

8And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;

9If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

10That innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

11But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities:

12Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

14Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.

16If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

17Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;

18And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;

19Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

20And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

21And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

1When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;

2thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.

3Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which Jehovah thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither.

4And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past;

5as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he dieth; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live:

6lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

7Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee.

8And if Jehovah thy God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers;

9if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three:

10that innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

11But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally so that he dieth, and he flee into one of these cities;

12then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

14Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor`s landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit, in the land that Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.

15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.

16If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrong-doing,

17then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days;

18and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and have testified falsely against his brother;

19then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.

20And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of thee.

21And thine eyes shall not pity; life [shall go] for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

1When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses,

2you must set apart for yourselves three cities in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

3You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent of your land that the Lord your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities.

4Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, if he has accidentally killed another without hating him at the time of the accident.

5Suppose he goes with someone else to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose from the handle and strikes his fellow worker so hard that he dies. The person responsible may then flee to one of these cities to save himself.

6Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, and kill him, though this is not a capital case since he did not hate him at the time of the accident.

7Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

8If the Lord your God enlarges your borders as he promised your ancestors and gives you all the land he pledged to them,

9and then you are careful to observe all these commandments I am giving you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities to these three.

10You must not shed innocent blood in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty.

11However, suppose a person hates someone else and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, and then flees to one of these cities.

12The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger to die.

13You must not pity him, but purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, so that it may go well with you.

14You must not encroach on your neighbor’s property, which will have been defined in the inheritance you will obtain in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

15A single witness may not testify against another person for any trespass or sin that he commits. A matter may be legally established only on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16If a false witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime,

17then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges who will be in office in those days.

18The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused,

19you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge the evil from among you.

20The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you.

21You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

1When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses;

2you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.

3You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which Yahweh your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there.

4This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live. Whoever kills his neighbor unawares, and didn’t hate him in time past;

5as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies, he shall flee to one of these cities and live.

6Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally; even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past.

7Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves.

8If Yahweh your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers;

9if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, besides these three.

10This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you.

11But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;

12then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.

14You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.

16If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,

17then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;

18and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother;

19then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

20Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you.

21Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.