Deuteronomy 19
Common English Bible
Cities of refuge
19 Once the Lord your God has eliminated those nations—whose land the Lord your God is giving you—and you displace them, settling into their cities and their houses, 2 you must designate three cities for your use in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 Mark out the roads to them[a] and divide the regions of the land the Lord your God is apportioning to you into three parts. These cities are the places to which a person who has killed can escape. 4 Here is the rule concerning a person who killed someone and is permitted to escape to one of these cities and live:
If it is someone who killed his neighbor accidentally, without having hated that person previously; 5 or if someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to chop some wood, and while swinging an ax to cut down the tree, the axhead flies off its handle and hits the neighbor, who subsequently dies—these kinds of killers may escape to one of these cities and live. 6 Otherwise, the blood avenger will chase after the killer out of rage and—especially if the distance to one of these cities[b] is too far—might catch and kill him, even though a death sentence was not in order because the killer didn’t have prior malice toward the other. 7 This is why I am commanding you as follows: Designate three cities for your use.
8 Now if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors—and he will give you all the land he swore to give to them 9 as long as you keep all this commandment that I am giving you right now by doing it, by loving the Lord your God, and by always walking in his ways—you can add three more cities for your use along with the first three. 10 Innocent blood must not be spilled in the land the Lord your God is giving to you as an inheritance, or it will be bloodshed that will be required of you.
11 But if someone does hate a neighbor and ambushes him, rising up against him and attacking him so he dies, and then escapes to one of these cities, 12 elders from the killer’s hometown will send word, and the killer will be sent back from there. They will then hand him over to the blood avenger, and he will be executed. 13 Show no mercy to such killers. Remove[c] innocent bloodshed from Israel so that things go well for you.
Property laws
14 Now in the land the Lord your God is giving you, in your allotted property that you will receive there, you must not tamper with your neighbor’s property line, which has been previously established.
Rules for testimony
15 A solitary witness against someone in any crime, wrongdoing, or in any sort of misdeed that might be done is not sufficient. The decision must stand by two or three witnesses. 16 Now if a spiteful witness comes forward against someone, so as to testify against them falsely, 17 the two persons who have a legal suit must stand before the Lord, before the priests, and before the judges that are in office at that time. 18 The judges will look into the situation very carefully. If it turns out that the witness is a liar—that the witness has given false testimony against his fellow Israelite— 19 then you must do to him what he had planned to do to his fellow Israelite. Remove[d] such evil from your community! 20 The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again. 21 Show no mercy on this point: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 19:3 Heb uncertain and lacks to them.
- Deuteronomy 19:6 Heb lacks to one of these cities.
- Deuteronomy 19:13 Or burn
- Deuteronomy 19:19 Or burn
申命記 19
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
設立避難城
19 「你們的上帝耶和華毀滅那些民族，把他們的土地賜給你們，使你們趕走他們，住進他們的城邑和房屋後， 2-3 你們要把土地劃分為三個地區，在每個地區設立一座避難城，修好通往這三座城的道路，以便誤殺人者可以逃往最近的避難城。
4 「如果有人無意間殺了素無冤仇的同伴，他可以逃往避難城，以保住性命。 5 例如，有人和朋友去森林砍樹，斧頭脫柄，誤殺了朋友，他就可以逃往避難城，以保住性命。 6 否則，如果避難城離誤殺人者太遠，怒火中燒的報仇者就會追上去殺死他。其實他是不該死的，因為他與被誤殺的人素無冤仇。 7 因此，我吩咐你們要設立三座避難城。
8-9 「如果你們謹遵我今天吩咐你們的這一切誡命，愛你們的上帝耶和華，一生遵行祂的旨意，祂就會按照祂對你們祖先所起的誓，擴張你們的疆域，把應許給你們祖先的土地賜給你們。那時，你們要再設三座避難城， 10 免得無辜人的血流在你們的上帝耶和華賜給你們作產業之地，以致你們擔當枉殺無辜的罪。
11 「如果有人因憎恨鄰居而暗中埋伏，殺了鄰居，然後逃到避難城， 12 他本城的長老要派人去把他帶回來，交給復仇的人，將他處死。 13 不可憐憫他，要從以色列除掉這種濫殺無辜的罪，這樣你們才會順利。
14 「在你們的上帝耶和華將要賜給你們作產業之地，你們不可挪動鄰居的界石，因為那是先人立的。
15 「如果人犯了什麼罪或有什麼過失，不可憑一個證人作證就定罪，要有兩三個證人才可以定案。 16 如果有人作偽證誣陷別人， 17 訴訟雙方要站在耶和華面前，讓當值的祭司和審判官定奪。 18 審判官要仔細審查案件，如果發現那人作偽證， 19 就要按照他企圖加給被誣告者的傷害處罰他。這樣，就從你們當中除掉了罪惡。 20 其他人聽說後，都會害怕，不敢再做這種惡事。 21 你們對惡人不可心軟，要以命償命，以眼還眼，以牙還牙，以手還手，以腳還腳。
Deuteronomy 19
Easy-to-Read Version
Cities of Safety
19 “The Lord your God is giving you land that belongs to other nations. The Lord your God will destroy those nations. You will live where these people lived. You will take their cities and their houses. When that happens, 2-3 you must divide the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Divide it into three parts and choose a city in the middle of each part that can be a place of safety. You must also build good roads to these cities. Then whoever kills another person may run to the closest city of safety.
4 “This is the rule for someone who kills another person and runs to one of these three cities for safety: It must be someone who killed another person accidentally, not out of hatred. 5 Here is an example: A man goes into the forest with another person to cut wood. The man swings his ax to cut down a tree, but the head of the ax separates from the handle. The ax head hits the other person and kills him. The man who swung the ax may then run to one of these three cities and be safe. 6 But if the city is too far away, he might not be able to run there fast enough. A close relative[a] of the person he killed might run after him and catch him before he reaches the city. The relative might kill the man in anger, even though he did not deserve to die because he did not mean to harm anyone. 7 That is why I commanded you to choose three special cities.
8 “The Lord your God promised your fathers that he would make your land larger. He will give you all the land that he promised to give to your ancestors. 9 He will do this if you completely obey his commands that I give you today—if you love the Lord your God and always live the way he wants. Then, when he gives you more land, you should choose three more cities for safety. They should be added to the first three cities. 10 Then innocent people will not be killed in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. And you will not be guilty for any such deaths.
11 “But suppose there is a man who hates his neighbor. That man might hide and wait to kill the person he hates. If he kills that person and runs to one of these cities of safety, 12 the elders in his hometown must send someone to get him and take him away from the city of safety. These leaders must hand him over to the close relative. He is a murderer and he must die. 13 Don’t feel sorry for him. He is guilty of killing an innocent person, and you must remove that guilt from Israel. Then everything will go well for you.
Property Lines
14 “You must not move the stones that mark your neighbor’s property. People put them there in the past to mark each person’s property. These stones mark the land that the Lord your God gave you.
Witnesses
15 “If someone is accused of doing something against the law, one witness is not enough to prove that the person is guilty. There must be two or three witnesses to prove that the person really did wrong.
16 “A witness might try to hurt another person by lying and saying that this person did wrong. 17 If that happens, both of them must go to the Lord’s special house and be judged by the priests and judges who are on duty at that time. 18 When the judges carefully ask their questions, they might find that the witness lied against the other person. If the witnesses tell lies, 19 you must punish them with the same punishment the other person would have received. In this way you will remove this evil from your group. 20 Other people will hear about this and be afraid, and people will not do evil things like that again.
21 “Don’t feel sorry about punishing someone who does wrong. If a life is taken, a life must be paid for it. The rule is an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot—the punishment must equal the crime.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 19:6 close relative Literally, “avenger of blood.” When a person was killed, his relative had to be sure the killer was punished. Also in verse 12.
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