Old/New Testament
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.
Statutes About Warfare
20 “If you go out to battle against your enemies and see (U)horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, (V)do not be afraid of them; for Yahweh your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you. 2 Now it will be, when you are drawing near to the battle, the priest shall approach and speak to the people. 3 And he shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, you are drawing near to the battle against your enemies today. Do not let your heart be faint. (W)Do not be afraid, nor be alarmed, nor be in dread before them, 4 for Yahweh your God (X)is the one who goes with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you.’ 5 The officers also shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Who is the man that has built a new house and has not (Y)dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it. 6 Who is the man that has planted a vineyard and has not [t]begun to use its fruit? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man [u]begin to use its fruit. 7 (Z)And who is the man that is engaged to a woman and has not [v]married her? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man [w]marry her.’ 8 Then the officers shall speak further to the people and say, ‘(AA)Who is the man that is afraid and whose heart is faint? Let him go and return to his house, so that [x]he might not make his brothers’ hearts melt like his heart.’ 9 Now it will be that when the officers have finished speaking to the people, they shall appoint commanders of armies at the head of the people.
10 “If you come near a city to fight against it, you shall call for terms of peace. 11 Now it will be that if it [y]agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your (AB)forced labor and shall serve you. 12 However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 And Yahweh your God shall give it into your hand, (AC)and you shall strike all the males in it with the edge of the sword. 14 Only the women and the little ones and (AD)the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall consume the spoil of your enemies which Yahweh your God has given you. 15 Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations [z]nearby. 16 (AE)Only in the cities of these peoples that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes. 17 But you shall devote them to destruction, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as Yahweh your God has commanded you, 18 so that they may not teach you to do (AF)according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, so that you would (AG)sin against Yahweh your God.
19 “If you besiege a city for many days, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. [aa]For is the tree of the field a man, that it should [ab]be besieged by you? 20 Only the trees which you know are not trees for food you shall destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that is making war with you until it falls.
Atonement for Innocent Blood
21 “If a slain person is found fallen in the open country in the land which Yahweh your God gives you to [ac]possess, and it is not known who has struck him, 2 then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance to the cities which are around the slain one. 3 And it shall be that the city which is nearest to the slain man, that is, the elders of that city, shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked and which has not pulled in a yoke; 4 and the elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a valley with running water, which has not been plowed or sown, and they shall break the heifer’s neck there in the valley. 5 Then (AH)the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for Yahweh your God has chosen them to minister for Him and to bless in the name of Yahweh; and every dispute and every [ad]assault [ae]shall be settled by them. 6 And all the elders of that city [af]who are nearest to the slain man shall (AI)wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley; 7 and they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it. 8 Atone for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, O Yahweh, and do not place the guilt of (AJ)innocent blood in the midst of Your people Israel.’ And the bloodguiltiness shall be atoned for them. 9 (AK)So you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from your midst, when you do what is right in the eyes of Yahweh.
Statutes About Domestic Relations
10 “If you go out to battle against your enemies, and (AL)Yahweh your God gives them over into your hands and you take them away captive, 11 and see among the captives a beautiful woman and set your affection on her and would take her as a wife for yourself, 12 then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall (AM)shave her head and [ag]trim her nails. 13 She shall also [ah]remove the clothes of her captivity and shall remain in your house and (AN)weep for her father and mother a full month; and after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. 14 And it will be that, if you do not desire her, then you shall let her go [ai]wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money; you shall not [aj]mistreat her because you have (AO)humbled her.
15 “If a man has two wives, the one loved and (AP)the other [ak]unloved, and both the loved and the [al]unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the [am]unloved, 16 then it shall be in the day he [an]wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the [ao]unloved, who is the firstborn. 17 But he shall recognize the firstborn, the son of the [ap]unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that [aq]he has, for he is the (AQ)first of his vigor; (AR)the legal judgment for the firstborn belongs to him.
18 “If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will (AS)not obey his father or his mother, and when they discipline him, he will not even listen to them, 19 then his father and mother shall seize him and bring him out to the elders of his city [ar]at the gateway of his hometown. 20 Then they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious; he will not listen to our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 (AT)Then all the men of his city shall stone him, and he will die; so (AU)you shall purge the evil from your midst, and (AV)all Israel will hear of it and fear.
A Man Hanged on a Tree Is Cursed
22 “And if a man has committed a sin, (AW)the judgment of which is death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 (AX)his corpse shall not hang all night on the tree, but you shall surely bury him on the same day (because (AY)cursed of God is he who is hanged), so that you (AZ)do not make unclean your land which Yahweh your God gives you as an inheritance.
21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the [a]Christ’; or, ‘Behold, He is there’; do not believe him; 22 for false christs and (A)false prophets will arise, and will show [b](B)signs and (C)wonders, in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But as for you, see! I have told you everything in advance.
The Coming of the Son of Man
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, (D)the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, 25 (E)and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in [c]the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see (F)the Son of Man (G)coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send forth the angels, and (H)will gather together His [d]elect from the four winds, (I)from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.
The Parable of the Fig Tree
28 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, [e]recognize that [f]He is near, right at the [g]door. 30 Truly I say to you, this [h]generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32 (J)But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
33 “See to it, (K)keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time [i]will come. 34 (L)It is like a man away on a journey, who, leaving his house and giving authority to his slaves—each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore, (M)stay awake—for you do not know when the [j]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or (N)when the rooster crows, or (O)in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you (P)sleeping. 37 And what I say to you I say to all, ‘(Q)Stay awake!’”
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