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Deuteronomy 19:1-10
New English Translation

Laws Concerning Manslaughter

19 When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he[a] is about to give you and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and houses, 2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities[b] in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession. 3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent[c] 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. 4 Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live,[d] if he has accidentally killed another[e] without hating him at the time of the accident.[f] 5 Suppose he goes with someone else[g] to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax[h] to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose[i] from the handle and strikes[j] his fellow worker[k] so hard that he dies. The person responsible[l] may then flee to one of these cities to save himself.[m] 6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him,[n] and kill him,[o] though this is not a capital case[p] since he did not hate him at the time of the accident. 7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities. 8 If the Lord your God enlarges your borders as he promised your ancestors[q] and gives you all the land he pledged to them,[r] 9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments[s] I am giving[t] you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities[u] to these three. 10 You must not shed innocent blood[v] in your land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty.[w]

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 19:1 tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.
  2. Deuteronomy 19:2 sn These three cities, later designated by Joshua, were Kedesh of Galilee, Shechem, and Hebron (Josh 20:7-9).
  3. Deuteronomy 19:3 tn Heb “border.”
  4. Deuteronomy 19:4 tn Heb “and this is the word pertaining to the one who kills who flees there and lives.”
  5. Deuteronomy 19:4 tn Heb “who strikes his neighbor without knowledge.”
  6. Deuteronomy 19:4 tn Heb “yesterday and a third (day)” (likewise in v. 6). The point is that there was no animosity between the two parties at the time of the accident and therefore no motive for the killing. Cf. NAB “had previously borne no malice”; NRSV “had not been at enmity before.”
  7. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “his neighbor” (so NAB, NIV); NASB “his friend.”
  8. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “and he raises his hand with the iron.”
  9. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “the iron slips off.”
  10. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “finds.”
  11. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “his neighbor.”
  12. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the person responsible for his friend’s death) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  13. Deuteronomy 19:5 tn Heb “and live.”
  14. Deuteronomy 19:6 tn Heb “and overtake him, for the road is long.”
  15. Deuteronomy 19:6 tn Heb “smite with respect to life,” that is, fatally.
  16. Deuteronomy 19:6 tn Heb “no judgment of death.”
  17. Deuteronomy 19:8 tn Heb “fathers.”
  18. Deuteronomy 19:8 tn Heb “he said to give to your ancestors.” The pronoun has been used in the translation instead for stylistic reasons.
  19. Deuteronomy 19:9 tn Heb “all this commandment.” This refers here to the entire covenant agreement of the Book of Deuteronomy as encapsulated in the Shema (Deut 6:4-5).
  20. Deuteronomy 19:9 tn Heb “commanding”; NAB “which I enjoin on you today.”
  21. Deuteronomy 19:9 sn You will add three more cities. Since these are alluded to nowhere else and thus were probably never added, this must be a provision for other cities of refuge should they be needed (cf. v. 8). See P. C. Craigie, Deuteronomy (NICOT), 267.
  22. Deuteronomy 19:10 tn Heb “innocent blood must not be shed.” The Hebrew phrase דָּם נָקִי (dam naqi) means the blood of a person to whom no culpability or responsibility adheres because what he did was without malice aforethought (HALOT 224 s.v דָּם 4.b).
  23. Deuteronomy 19:10 tn Heb “and blood will be upon you” (cf. KJV, ASV); NRSV “thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.”
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Deuteronomy 19:1-10
International Standard Version

Cities of Refuge

19 “When the Lord your God destroys those nations whose lands he[a] is about to give you, you must dispossess them and live in their cities and houses. 2 You must reserve[b] three cities within the land that the Lord your God is about to give you to possess. 3 Build roads throughout the land that the Lord your God is providing as an inheritance, and then divide it into three districts so that any killer may flee there.

4 “Now this is the situation for any killer who flees there to live: suppose he strikes his friend unwittingly, not having hated him previously. 5 For instance,[c] he may have accompanied his friend to go to a forest to cut trees. Then he swung his axe to cut some wood, but the ax head flew off the handle[d] and hit[e] his friend, so that he died. The killer[f] may flee to one of these cities to live. 6 Since the distance may be great, the angry avenger may overtake the killer he is pursuing and kill him, in which case there will be no justice in his death, because he did not hate his friend[g] previously. 7 Therefore I am commanding you to reserve[h] three cities.”

Increase the Cities of Refuge

8 “Now if the Lord enlarges your territories just as he promised your ancestors and gives you all the land that he promised,[i] 9 and if you are careful to observe all these commands that I am commanding you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk daily in his ways—then add three more cities in addition to these three cities. 10 You must not shed innocent blood on your land that the Lord your God is about to give you as an inheritance. Otherwise, you’ll be guilty of murder.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 19:1 Lit. the Lord your God
  2. Deuteronomy 19:2 Or set apart
  3. Deuteronomy 19:5 The Heb. lacks for instance
  4. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit. tree
  5. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit. found
  6. Deuteronomy 19:5 The Heb. lacks the killer
  7. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit. hate him
  8. Deuteronomy 19:7 Or set apart
  9. Deuteronomy 19:8 Lit. promised to give your ancestors
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