Three Cities of Refuge^(A)

19 “When the Lord your God ^(B)has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, ^2 (C)you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. ³ You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.

⁴ “And ^(D)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— ⁵ as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live; ^6 (E)lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. ⁷ Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall separate three cities for yourself.’

⁸ “Now if the Lord your God ^(F)enlarges your territory, as He swore to ^(G)your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, ⁹ and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways, ^(H)then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, ^10 (I)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 ^(J)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, ¹² then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ^13 (K)Your eye shall not pity him, ^(L)but you shall ^[b]put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Property Boundaries

^14 (M)“You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

The Law Concerning Witnesses

^15 (N)“One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. ¹⁶ If a false witness ^(O)rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, ¹⁷ then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, ^(P)before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. ¹⁸ And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, ^19 (Q)then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so ^(R)you shall put away the evil from among you. ^20 (S)And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. ^21 (T)Your eye shall not pity: ^(U)life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, ^(A)“I am the light of the world. He who ^(B)follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Jesus Defends His Self-Witness

¹³ The Pharisees therefore said to Him, ^(C)“You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not ^[a]true.”

¹⁴ Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but ^(D)you do not know where I come from and where I am going. ^15 (E)You judge according to the flesh; ^(F)I judge no one. ¹⁶ And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for ^(G)I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me. ^17 (H)It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. ¹⁸ I am One who bears witness of Myself, and ^(I)the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me.”

¹⁹ Then they said to Him, “Where is Your Father?”

Jesus answered, ^(J)“You know neither Me nor My Father. ^(K)If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.”

²⁰ These words Jesus spoke in ^(L)the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and ^(M)no one laid hands on Him, for ^(N)His hour had not yet come.

Jesus Predicts His Departure

²¹ Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and ^(O)you will seek Me, and ^(P)will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”

²² So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”

²³ And He said to them, ^(Q)“You are from beneath; I am from above. ^(R)You are of this world; I am not of this world. ^24 (S)Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; ^(T)for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”

²⁵ Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”

And Jesus said to them, “Just what I ^(U)have been saying to you from the beginning. ²⁶ I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but ^(V)He who sent Me is true; and ^(W)I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”

²⁷ They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.

²⁸ Then Jesus said to them, “When you ^(X)lift^[b] up the Son of Man, ^(Y)then you will know that I am He, and ^(Z)that I do nothing of Myself; but ^(AA)as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. ²⁹ And ^(AB)He who sent Me is with Me. ^(AC)The Father has not left Me alone, ^(AD)for I always do those things that please Him.” ³⁰ As He spoke these words, ^(AE)many believed in Him.