(A)“If a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the (B)place which the Lord your God chooses.

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“But you shall seek the (A)place where the Lord your God chooses, out of all your tribes, to put His name for His (B)dwelling[a] place; and there you shall go.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 12:5 home

11 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Now, (A)ask the priests concerning the law, saying,

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17 (A)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for (B)the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, (C)bring to me, and I will hear it.’

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“For(A) the lips of a priest should keep knowledge,
And people should seek the law from his mouth;
(B)For he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.

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(A)Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
[a]To (B)the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
(C)For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.

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Footnotes

  1. Psalm 122:4 Or As a testimony to

Moreover in Jerusalem, for the judgment of the Lord and for controversies, Jehoshaphat (A)appointed some of the Levites and priests, and some of the chief fathers of Israel, [a]when they returned to Jerusalem. And he commanded them, saying, “Thus you shall act (B)in the fear of the Lord, faithfully and with a loyal heart: 10 (C)Whatever case comes to you from your brethren who dwell in their cities, whether of bloodshed or offenses against law or commandment, against statutes or ordinances, you shall warn them, lest they trespass against the Lord and (D)wrath come upon (E)you and your brethren. Do this, and you will not be guilty.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Chronicles 19:8 LXX, Vg. for the inhabitants of Jerusalem

Solomon’s Wise Judgment

16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and (A)stood before him. 17 And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; [a]no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.”

22 Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.”

And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.”

Thus they spoke before the king.

23 And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”

26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for (B)she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!”

But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.

27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.”

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the (C)wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 3:18 Lit. no stranger

17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, (A)before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.

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“And (A)this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor [a]unintentionally, not having hated him in time past—

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 19:4 ignorantly, lit. without knowledge

19 (A)The[a] avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 (B)If he pushes him out of hatred or, (C)while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, 21 or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

22 ‘However, if he pushes him suddenly (D)without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, 23 or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, 24 then (E)the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. 25 So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and (F)he shall remain there until the death of the high priest (G)who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of [b]blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

29 ‘And these things shall be (H)a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the (I)testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. 31 Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32 And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood (J)defiles the land, and no [c]atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except (K)by the blood of him who shed it. 34 Therefore (L)do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for (M)I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 35:19 A family member who is to avenge the victim
  2. Numbers 35:27 Murder
  3. Numbers 35:33 Lit. covering

16 (A)‘But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

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11 then (A)you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there.

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If the thief is found (A)breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be (B)no guilt for his bloodshed.

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Animal Control Laws

28 “If an ox gores a man or a woman to death, then (A)the ox shall surely be stoned, and its flesh shall not be eaten; but the owner of the ox shall be [a]acquitted.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 21:28 exempt from punishment

22 “If men [a]fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that [b]she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall (A)pay as the judges determine.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 21:22 struggle
  2. Exodus 21:22 Lit. her children come out

20 “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

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The Law Concerning Violence

12 (A)“He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. 13 However, (B)if he did not lie in wait, but God (C)delivered him into his hand, then (D)I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

14 “But if a man acts with (E)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, (F)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

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26 So they judged the people at all times; the (A)hard[a] cases they brought to Moses, but they judged every small case themselves.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 18:26 difficult matters

10 (A)lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 “But (B)if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities,

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