Old/New Testament
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.”
20 “If you go out to war against your enemies and you see a horse and a chariot, an army[ap] larger that you, you shall not be afraid because of them; for Yahweh your God is with you, the one who brought you from the land of Egypt. 2 And then[aq] when you approach the battle, then the priest shall come near and speak to the troops. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, Israel, you are near today[ar] to the battle against your enemies; do not lose heart;[as] you shall not be afraid, and you shall not panic, and you shall not be terrified because of them,[at] 4 for Yahweh your God is going with you to fight for you against your enemies to help you.’ 5 And the officials shall speak to the troops, saying,[au] ‘Who is the man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go and return to this house, so that he does not die in battle and another man[av] dedicates it. 6 And who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed it? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and another man[aw] enjoys it. 7 And who is the man who got engaged to a woman and has not married her? Let him go and let him return to his house, so that he does not die in battle and another man[ax] marries her.’ 8 And the officials shall continue to speak to the troops, and they shall say, ‘What man[ay] is afraid and disheartened?[az] Let him go, and let him return to his house, and let him not cause the heart of his brothers to melt[ba] like his.’ 9 And when the officials have finished speaking[bb] to the army troops, then they shall appoint commanders of divisions at the head of the troops.
10 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you must offer it peace.[bc] 11 And then[bd] if they accept your terms of peace[be] and they surrender to you,[bf] and then[bg] all the people inhabiting it[bh] shall be forced labor for you, and they shall serve you. 12 But if they do not accept your terms of peace[bi] and they want to make war with you, then you shall lay siege against it.[bj] 13 And Yahweh your God will give it into your hand, and you shall kill all its males with the edge[bk] of the sword. 14 Only the women and the little children and the domestic animals[bl] and all that shall be in the city, all of its spoil you may loot for yourselves, and you may enjoy the spoil of your enemies that Yahweh you God has given to you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the far[bm] cities from you, which are not from the cities of these nations located nearby.[bn]
16 But from the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance, you shall not let anything live that breathes.[bo] 17 Rather, you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittites[bp] and the Amorites,[bq] the Canaanites[br] and the Perizzites,[bs] the Hivites,[bt] and the Jebusites,[bu] just as Yahweh your God has commanded you, 18 so that they may not teach you to do like all their detestable things that they do for their gods and thereby you sin against Yahweh your God.
19 “If[bv] you besiege a town for many days to make war against it in order to seize it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them,[bw] for you may eat from them,[bx] and so you must not cut them[by] down. Are the trees of the field humans that they should come in siege against you?[bz] 20 Only[ca] the trees[cb] that you know are not fruit trees[cc] you may destroy and you may cut down, and you may build siege works against that city that is making war with you until it falls.”[cd]
21 “If someone slain is found in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it and is lying in the field, and it is not known who killed him,[ce] 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and shall measure the distance to the cities that are around the slain one. 3 And then[cf] the nearest city to the slain one, the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd that has not been worked with in the field, that has not pulled a yoke, 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a wadi that flows with water all year[cg] and that has not been plowed and has not been sown; then there they shall break the neck of the heifer in the wadi.[ch] 5 Then the priests, the descendants[ci] of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to bless in the name of Yahweh, and every legal dispute and every case of assault will be subject to their ruling.[cj] 6 And all of the elders of that city nearest to the slain person shall wash their hands over the heifer with the broken neck in the wadi.[ck] 7 And they shall declare, and they shall say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see what was done. 8 Forgive your people, Israel, whom you redeemed, Yahweh, and do not allow[cl] the guilt of innocent blood in the midst of your people Israel, and let them be forgiven with regard to blood.’ 9 And so you shall purge the innocent blood from your midst, because you must do the right thing in the eyes of Yahweh.
10 “When you go out for battle against your enemies, and Yahweh your God gives them into your hand, and you lead the captives[cm] away, 11 and you see among the captives[cn] a woman beautiful in appearance, and you become attached to her and you want to take her as a wife, 12 then you shall bring her into your household, and she shall shave her head, and she shall trim her nails. 13 And she shall remove the clothing of her captivity from her, and she shall remain in your house, and she shall mourn her father and her mother a full month,[co] and after this you may have sex with her,[cp] and you may marry her, and she may become your wife.[cq] 14 And then if you do not take delight in her, then you shall let her go to do whatever she wants,[cr] but you shall not treat her as a slave, since you have dishonored[cs] her.
15 “If a man has two wives, and the one is loved and the other one is disliked and the one loved and the one that is disliked have borne for him sons, if it happens that the firstborn son belongs to the one that is disliked,[ct] 16 nevertheless it will be the case that[cu] on the day of bestowing his inheritance upon his sons, he will not be allowed to treat as the firstborn son the son of the beloved wife in preference to[cv] the son of the disliked wife, who is the firstborn son. 17 But he shall acknowledge the firstborn son of the disliked wife by giving[cw] him a double portion of all that he has,[cx] for he is the firstfruit of his vigor;[cy] to him is the legal claim of the birthright.[cz]
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son[da] who does not listen to[db] the voice of his father and to the voice of his mother, and they discipline him, and he does not obey[dc] them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him, and they shall bring him out to the elders of his city and to the gate of his town,[dd] 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he does not obey us,[de] and he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his city shall stone him with stones and let him die; and so you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all of Israel will hear, and they will fear.
22 “And if a man commits a sin punishable by death,[df] and so he is put to death and you hang him on a tree, 23 his dead body shall not hang on the tree, but certainly you shall bury him on that day, for cursed by God is one that is being hung; so you shall not defile your land[dg] that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance.”
21 “And at that time if anyone should say to you, “Behold, here is the Christ,’ ‘Behold, there he is,’ do not believe him![a] 22 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and will produce signs and wonders in order to mislead, if possible, the elect. 23 But you, watch out! I have told you everything ahead of time!
The Arrival of the Son of Man
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation,
‘the sun will be darkened
and the moon will not give its light,
25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.’[b]
26 And then they will see the Son of Man arriving in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels, and will gather the[c] elect together from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.
The Parable of the Fig Tree
28 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch has already become tender and puts forth its[d] leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also you, when you see these things happening, know[e] that he is near, at the door. 30 Truly I say to you that this generation will never pass away until all these things take place! 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
The Unknown Day and Hour
32 “But concerning that day or hour no one knows—not even the angels in heaven nor the Son—except the Father. 33 Watch out! Be alert, because you do not know when the time is! 34 It is like a man away on a journey, who left his house and gave his slaves authority—to each one his work—and to the doorkeeper he gave orders that he should be on the alert. 35 Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or early in the morning— 36 lest he arrive suddenly and[f] find you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be on the alert!”
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