¹⁹ The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him.

²¹ or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death, he is a murderer; the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

⁴ “^(A)Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he ^[a]kills his friend ^[b]unintentionally, ^[c]not hating him previously— ⁵ as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand ^[d]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the ^[e]handle and ^[f]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live; ⁶ otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer ^[g]in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and ^[h]take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. ⁷ Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities for yourself.’

⁸ “If the Lord your God ^(B)enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He ^[i]promised to give your fathers— ⁹ if you ^[j]carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, ^(C)to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—^(D)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 the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and ^(E)bloodguiltiness be on you.