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Deuteronomy 19
Legacy Standard Bible

Statutes About Cities of Refuge

19 “(A)When Yahweh your God cuts off the nations, whose land Yahweh your God gives you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, 2 (B)you shall set apart three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to [a]possess. 3 You shall prepare the [b]roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which Yahweh your God will give you to inherit, [c]so that any manslayer may flee there.

4 “(C)Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he strikes down his friend [d]without premeditation, [e]not hating him previously— 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand [f]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the [g]handle and [h]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live; 6 lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer when his heart is [i]angry, and overtake him, because the way is long, and [j]strike down his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. 7 Therefore, I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall set apart three cities for yourself.’

8 “Now if Yahweh your God (D)enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He [k]promised to give to your fathers— 9 if you [l]be careful to do all this commandment which I am commanding you today, (E)to love Yahweh your God and to walk in His ways all your days—(F)then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three. 10 So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance, and (G)bloodguiltiness be on you.

11 “But (H)if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes down [m]his life so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and give him over into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 [n](I)You shall not pity him, but (J)you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Statutes About Boundaries and Witnesses

14 “(K)You shall not move your neighbor’s boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that Yahweh your God gives you to [o]possess.

15 “(L)A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin [p]which he has committed; at the mouth of two or three witnesses a matter shall be established. 16 (M)If a malicious witness rises up against a man to [q]accuse him of [r]wrongdoing, 17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand (N)before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 And the judges (O)shall inquire thoroughly, and behold, if the witness is a false witness and he has [s]accused his brother falsely, 19 then (P)you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. 20 (Q)And the rest will hear and be afraid and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 Thus (R)your eye shall not show pity: (S)life for life, (T)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 19:2 Lit possess it
  2. Deuteronomy 19:3 Lit road
  3. Deuteronomy 19:3 Lit and it shall be for every manslayer to flee there
  4. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit without knowledge
  5. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit and he was not hating him previously
  6. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit is thrust with
  7. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit wood
  8. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit finds
  9. Deuteronomy 19:6 Or hot
  10. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit strike him in the soul
  11. Deuteronomy 19:8 Lit spoke
  12. Deuteronomy 19:9 Lit keep...to do it
  13. Deuteronomy 19:11 Lit him in the soul
  14. Deuteronomy 19:13 Lit Your eye
  15. Deuteronomy 19:14 Lit possess it
  16. Deuteronomy 19:15 Lit in any sin, which he sins
  17. Deuteronomy 19:16 Lit testify against
  18. Deuteronomy 19:16 Lit turning aside
  19. Deuteronomy 19:18 Lit testified against
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Deuteronomy 19
Lexham English Bible

19 “When Yahweh your God has exterminated[a] the nations concerning whom Yahweh your God is giving to you their land, and you have dispossessed them, and you have settled in their towns and in their houses, 2 you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. 3 You shall prepare the roads[b] for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that it will be available for any manslayer to flee there.[c]

4 “Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live there who has killed his neighbor unintentionally,[d] and he did not hate him previously.[e] 5 For example,[f] when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron head slips from the handle of the tool and strikes his neighbor and he dies, then he may flee to one of these cities, and so he may live. 6 He does this lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because he is hot with anger[g] and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance to the city of refuge, and so he kills him,[h] but he did not deserve a death sentence,[i] because he was not hating him before.[j] 7 Therefore I am commanding you, saying,[k] ‘You shall set apart three cities.’ 8 Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he swore to your ancestors[l] and gives[m] to you all the land that he promised[n] to give to your ancestors,[o] 9 then if you diligently observe this entire commandment[p] that I am commanding you today[q] by loving Yahweh your God and by going[r] in his ways at all times,[s] then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three. 10 Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed[t] in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance and thereby bloodguilt would be on you.[u]

11 But if someone hates[v] his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up[w] against him and murders him,[x] and the murderer flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death. 13 Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that good will be directed toward you.[y]

14 “You shall not move the boundary marker of your neighbor that former generations[z] set up on your property in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. 15 The testimony of a single witness may not be used to convict[aa] with respect to any crime and for any wrongdoing in any offense that a person[ab] committed; on the evidence[ac] of two witnesses or on the evidence[ad] of three witnesses a charge shall be sustained.[ae] 16 If a malicious witness[af] gets up to accuse[ag] anyone to testify against him falsely, 17 then the two men to whom the legal dispute pertains[ah] shall stand before[ai] Yahweh, before[aj] the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 Then judges shall make a thorough inquiry, and if it turns out[ak] that the witness is a false witness and he testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he meant[al] to do to his brother, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst. 20 And the rest[am] shall hear and shall fear, and they shall not continue to do such a thing again[an] as this evil thing in your midst. 21 You must show no pity:[ao] life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 19:1 Literally “cut off”
  2. Deuteronomy 19:3 Hebrew “road”
  3. Deuteronomy 19:3 Literally “it shall be to flee there all/anyone killing”
  4. Deuteronomy 19:4 Literally “with no knowledge”
  5. Deuteronomy 19:4 Literally “from yesterday and the day before”
  6. Deuteronomy 19:5 Literally “And as”
  7. Deuteronomy 19:6 Literally “is hot his heart”
  8. Deuteronomy 19:6 Literally “he strikes him down as to his life/soul”
  9. Deuteronomy 19:6 Literally “for him there was not a judgment of death”
  10. Deuteronomy 19:6 Literally “from yesterday and the day before”
  11. Deuteronomy 19:7 Literally “to say”
  12. Deuteronomy 19:8 Or “fathers”
  13. Deuteronomy 19:8 Hebrew “will give”
  14. Deuteronomy 19:8 Literally “spoke”
  15. Deuteronomy 19:8 Or “fathers”
  16. Deuteronomy 19:9 Literally “if you observe all of the commandment the this to do it”
  17. Deuteronomy 19:9 Literally “the day”
  18. Deuteronomy 19:9 Or “walking”
  19. Deuteronomy 19:9 Literally “all of the days”
  20. Deuteronomy 19:10 Hebrew “is not shed”
  21. Deuteronomy 19:10 Hebrew “shall be on you,” but conditional sense of imperfect is clear
  22. Deuteronomy 19:11 Hebrew “is hating”
  23. Deuteronomy 19:11 Or “gets up”
  24. Deuteronomy 19:11 Literally “and strikes him mortally with regard to his life and he dies”
  25. Deuteronomy 19:13 Literally “and good shall be for you” or “it shall be good for you”
  26. Deuteronomy 19:14 Literally “the first settlers/ancestors”
  27. Deuteronomy 19:15 Literally “Not shall get up only a single witness against a man”
  28. Deuteronomy 19:15 Hebrew “he”
  29. Deuteronomy 19:15 Literally “mouth”
  30. Deuteronomy 19:15 Literally “mouth”
  31. Deuteronomy 19:15 Literally “shall be established a case/charge”
  32. Deuteronomy 19:16 Literally “a witness of violence”
  33. Deuteronomy 19:16 Literally “against”
  34. Deuteronomy 19:17 Literally “who for them are the legal dispute”
  35. Deuteronomy 19:17 Literally “to the face of”
  36. Deuteronomy 19:17 Literally “to the face of”
  37. Deuteronomy 19:18 Or “in fact”
  38. Deuteronomy 19:19 Or “planned”
  39. Deuteronomy 19:20 Literally “and those remaining”
  40. Deuteronomy 19:20 Literally “and they shall not do again to do again”
  41. Deuteronomy 19:21 Literally “And not take pity your eye”
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Deuteronomy 18
Deuteronomy 20
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