Old/New Testament

19 When thy Lord God hath destroyed the folks, whose land he shall give to thee, and thou hast wielded it, and hast dwelled in the cities, and in [the] houses thereof;

² thou shalt separate three cities to thee in the midst of the land, which thy Lord God shall give to thee into possession. (thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of the land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee for a possession.)

³ Thou shalt make ready diligently the way, and thou shalt part evenly into three parts all the province(s) of thy land, that he that is exiled for manslaying, have nigh (at) hand whither he may escape. (Thou shalt diligently make ready the way, and thou shalt evenly divide all the provinces of thy land into three parts, so that anyone who is exiled for manslaughter, shall have a place close at hand to which they can escape.)

⁴ This shall be the law of a manslayer fleeing, whose life shall be kept. If a man smiteth unwittingly his neighbour, and which is proved to have not had any hatred against him yesterday, and the third day ago, (This shall be the law for anyone fleeing manslaughter, whose life shall be saved. If anyone unwittingly, or unintentionally, striketh down his neighbour, and is proved to have not had any hatred against him yesterday, and the third day ago,)

⁵ but to have gone simply with him into the wood to hew down trees, and in the felling down of trees the ax flieth from his hand, and the iron slideth from the helve, and smiteth, and slayeth his friend; this man shall flee to one of the foresaid cities, and shall live; (but simply to have gone into the woods with him to cut down some trees, and in the felling down of the trees, the ax flieth out of his hand, and the iron slideth from the helve, and striketh, and killeth his friend; this person shall flee to one of the foresaid cities, and shall be safe there;)

⁶ lest peradventure the next kinsman of him, whose blood is shed out, be pricked with sorrow, and pursue, and (over)take him, if the way is longer, and slay his life, that is not guilty of death; for it is showed that he had not any hatred before against him that is slain. (lest the next of kin of him whose blood is shed out, be pricked with sorrow, and he pursue the killer, and overtake him, because the way is long, and then take the life of him who is truly not guilty of murder; for it was shown that he had no hatred before against that person who was killed.)

⁷ Therefore I command to thee, that thou separate three cities of even space betwixt themselves. (And so I command thee to set apart three cities with even space between them.)

⁸ Forsooth when thy Lord God hath alarged thy terms, as he swore to thy fathers, and hath given to thee all the land which he promised to them;

⁹ if nevertheless thou keepest his commandments, and doest those things which I command to thee today, that thou love thy Lord God, and go in his ways in all time (so that thou love the Lord thy God, and go in his ways at all times), (then) thou shalt add to thee three other cities, and (so) thou shalt double the number of the foresaid cities,

¹⁰ that guiltless blood be not shed out in the midst of the land which thy Lord God shall give to thee to have in possession, lest thou be guilty of blood. (so that innocent blood be not shed out in the midst of the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee to have for a possession, and that thou be guilty of shedding that innocent blood.)

¹¹ Forsooth if any man hateth his neighbour, and setteth ambushes to his life, and riseth up against him privily, and smiteth him, and he is dead (and he dieth), and the manslayer fleeth to one of the foresaid cities,

¹² the elder men of that city shall send (for), and take him from the place of refuge; and they shall betake him into the hand of the next kinsman of him, whose blood is shed out, and he shall die, (the elders of that city shall send for him, and shall bring him back from the place of refuge; and they shall deliver him into the hands of the next of kin of him whose blood was shed out, and he shall die/and he shall be put to death,)

¹³ and thou shalt not have mercy upon him; and thou shalt do away guilty blood from Israel, that it be well to thee. (and thou shalt not give him any mercy; and so thou shalt do away from Israel the guilt for innocent blood, so that it be well with thee.)

¹⁴ Thou shalt not take, and turn over, the terms of thy neighbour, which the former men set in thy possession, which thy Lord God shall give to thee in the land, which land thou shalt take to be wielded. (Thou shalt not take away, or turn over, thy neighbour’s boundary stones, which the people in former times put there in thy possession, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in the land which thou shalt take for thyselves.)

¹⁵ One witness shall not stand against any man, whatever thing it is of sin, and of wickedness; but each word shall stand in the mouth of twain, either of three witnesses. (One witness shall not convict anyone, whatever his sin, or wickedness; but each charge must be established by the testimony of two, or three, witnesses.)

¹⁶ If a false witness standeth against a man, and accuseth him of breaking of the law,

¹⁷ both they, of whom the cause is, shall stand before the Lord, in the sight of priests, and of judges, that be in those days. (then both of the people who be in dispute, shall stand before the Lord, in the sight of the priests, and the judges, who then be in office.)

¹⁸ And when they seeking the cause most diligently (And if, after they have studied the case most diligently), (they) have found that the false witness said a lie against his brother,

¹⁹ they shall yield to him, as he thought to have done to his brother; and (so) thou shalt do away evil from the midst of thee,

²⁰ that other men hear, and have dread, and be no more hardy to do such things (so that other people can hear, and have fear, and no more be so fool-hardy to do such things). Thou shalt not have mercy on him,

²¹ but thou shalt ask life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20 If thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and thou seest a multitude of knights, and of chariots, and a greater multitude of the adversary(’s) host than (what) thou hast, thou shalt not dread them; for thy Lord God is with thee, that led thee out of the land of Egypt. (If thou goest out to battle against thy enemies, and thou seest a multitude of horsemen, and of chariots, and a greater multitude of the adversary’s army than what thou hast, thou shalt not fear them; for the Lord thy God is with thee, who led thee out of the land of Egypt.)

² Soothly when the battle nigheth now, the priest shall stand before the battle array, and thus he shall speak to the people (and he shall speak to the people thus),

³ Thou, Israel, hear today, ye have battle against your enemies; your heart dread not, be ye not afeared; do not ye give stead, dread ye not them; (Hear, O Israel, today ye shall do battle against your enemies; but do not let your heart fear, and do not be afraid; do not ye give place to panic, and do not ye fear them;)

⁴ for your Lord God is in the midst of you, and he shall fight for you against your adversaries, that he deliver you from peril. (for the Lord your God is in your midst, and he shall fight for you against your adversaries, so that he can save you from peril.)

⁵ But the leaders shall cry by all the companies, while the host shall hear, (and shall say,) Who is the man that hath builded a new house, and hath hallowed not it? go he and turn again into his house, lest peradventure he die in battle, and another man hallow it. (Then the leaders of the army shall say, in the hearing of all the people, Who is the man who hath built a new house, and hath not yet dedicated it? go he back, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man dedicate it.)

⁶ Who is the man that (hath) planted a vinery, and hath not yet made it to be common, and of which it is leaveful to all men to eat? go he, and turn again into his house, lest peradventure he die in battle, and another man be set in his office. (Who is the man who hath planted a vineyard, and hath not yet made it to be common, and therefore lawful for all men to eat of it? go he back, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man enjoy its fruits.)

⁷ Who is the man that hath espoused a wife, and hath not (yet) taken her by fleshly knowing? go he, and turn again into his house, lest peradventure he die in battle, and another man take her. (Who is the man who hath espoused a wife, and hath not yet taken her in fleshly knowing? go he back, and return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take her.)

⁸ When these things be said, the leaders of the host shall add to (them) other things, and they shall speak to the people, and say, Who is a fearful man, and of dreadful heart? go he, and turn again into his house, lest he make his brethren’s hearts to dread, as he is aghast by dread. (When these things be said, the leaders of the army shall add other things, and they shall say to the people, Who is fearful, and hath a heart full of dread? go he back, and return to his house, lest he make his kinsmen’s hearts to fear, just like his is filled with fear.)

⁹ And when the dukes of the host be still, and have made (an) end of speaking, each chieftain of thy host shall make ready his companies to battle. (And when the leaders of the army have finished speaking, they shall appoint a leader, or a chief man, for each company.)

¹⁰ If any time thou shalt go to a city to overcome it, first thou shalt proffer peace to it. (Now anytime that thou shalt go to attack a city, thou shalt first make an offer of peace to them, that is, thou shalt give them a chance to surrender.)

¹¹ If the city receiveth thy (offer of) peace, and openeth to thee the gates, all the people that is therein shall be saved, and it shall serve thee under tribute. (If the city accepteth thy offer of peace, and they surrender, and they open the gates to thee, then all the people who be there shall become your slaves, and shall serve thee.)

¹² But if they will not make bond of peace with thee, and begin battle against thee, thou shalt fight against it. (But if they will not make peace with thee, but begin battle against thee, then thou shalt fight against them.)

¹³ And when thy Lord God hath betaken it in(to) thine hands, thou shalt smite by the sharpness of sword all thing of male kind that is therein, (And when the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thy hands, thou shalt strike down, or shalt kill, with the sharpness of the sword, all the males who be there,)

¹⁴ without women, and young children, beasts, and other things that be in the city. Thou shalt part all the prey to the host, and thou shalt eat of the spoils of thine enemies, which spoils thy Lord God hath given to thee. (but not the women, and the young children, and the beasts, and the other things that be in the city. Thou shalt divide all the prey among the army, and thou shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which spoils the Lord thy God hath given thee.)

¹⁵ Thus thou shalt do to all the cities, that be full far from thee, and be not of these (nigh) cities which thou shalt take into possession. (Thus thou shalt do, to all the cities that be far away from thee, but not to the cities that be near, which thou shalt take for a possession.)

¹⁶ But of these cities that shall be given to thee, thou shalt not suffer any to live, but thou shalt slay by the sharpness of sword; (But in these cities that shall be given to thee by the Lord, thou shalt not allow anyone to remain alive, but thou shalt kill them all by the sharpness of the sword;)

¹⁷ that is to say, Hittites, and Amorites, and Canaanites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites, as thy Lord God hath commanded to thee;

¹⁸ lest peradventure they teach you to do all the abominations, which they have wrought (un)to their gods, and ye do sin against your Lord God (and then ye sin against the Lord your God).

¹⁹ When thou hast besieged a city by long time, and thou hast compassed it with strongholds that thou overcome it, thou shalt not cut down the trees, of which men may eat/of which fruit may be eaten, neither thou shalt waste the country(side) about with axes; for it is a tree, and not a man, neither it may increase the number of fighters against thee. (When thou hast besieged a city for a long time, and thou hast surrounded it with strongholds so that thou can overcome it, thou shalt not cut down the trees, from which men can eat/whose fruit can be eaten, nor shalt thou destroy all the countryside about with axes; for it is a tree, and not a man, and it cannot increase the number of fighters against thee.)

²⁰ And if any of them be not apple trees, but be wild, and able into other uses, cut them down, and make of them engines, till thou take the city that fighteth against thee. (But if any of them be not apple trees, or other kinds of fruit trees, but be wild, and good for other uses, then cut them down, and make engines, or bulwarks, out of them, until thou take the city that fighteth against thee.)

21 When the carrion of a man slain is found in the land which thy Lord God shall give to thee, and he that is guilty of his death is unknown, (When the corpse of a slain man is found in the land which the Lord thy God shall give to thee, and he who is guilty of his death is unknown,)

² the greater men in birth and thy judges shall go out, and they shall mete from the place of the carrion the spaces of all the cities about; (the men of great age, that is, the elders, and the judges shall go out, and they shall measure the distance from the corpse to all the cities thereabouts;)

³ and which city they see to be nearer that carrion, than another, the elder men of that city shall take of [the] drove a cow calf, that hath not drawn yoke, neither hath cut the earth with a (plow)share; (and whichever city they see to be nearer to that corpse, than any other, the elders of that city shall take a cow calf from the herd, that hath not yet worn a yoke, nor hath cut the earth with a plowshare;)

⁴ and they shall lead that cow calf to a sharp stony valley, that was never eared, nor received seed; and in that valley they shall cut the head off the cow calf. (and they shall lead that cow calf to a valley of sharp stones, that was never plowed, nor received seed; and in that valley they shall cut off the head of the cow calf.)

⁵ And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall nigh, which thy Lord God chose, that they minister to him, and bless in his name, and all the cause shall hang at their word; and whatever thing is clean either unclean, be it deemed by them. (And the levitical priests shall come forth, whom the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister to him, and bless in his name, and all the cases shall hang on their words; and whatever thing is clean or unclean, shall be judged, or determined, by them.)

⁶ And the greater men in birth of that city shall come to the slain man, and they shall wash their hands on the cow calf, that was slain in the valley; (And the men of great age, that is, the elders, of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall come, and they shall wash their hands over the cow calf, that was killed in the valley;)

⁷ and they shall say, Our hands shed not out this blood, neither our eyes have seen who shed it.

⁸ Lord, be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast again-bought, and areckon thou not innocent blood in the midst of thy people Israel. And the guilt of blood shall be done away from them. (Lord, be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast bought back, or hast redeemed, and put thou not the guilt of innocent blood on thy people Israel. And so the guilt for the innocent blood shall be done away from them.)

⁹ Forsooth thou shalt be alien, or unguilty, from the blood of the innocent which is shed, when thou hast done that that the Lord commanded. (And so thou shalt be free from any guilt for the innocent blood which is shed, when thou hast done what the Lord commanded.)

¹⁰ If thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, that thy Lord God betaketh them in thine hand, and thou leadest (back) prisoners, (When thou goest out to battle against thy enemies, and the Lord thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou takest some prisoners,)

¹¹ and thou seest in the number of those prisoners a fair woman, and thou lovest her, and will have her to wife (and will have her for your wife),

¹² thou shalt bring her into thine house; which woman shall shave her hair, and she shall cut her nails about, (thou shalt bring her into thy house; and this woman shall shave off her hair, and she shall pare her nails,)

¹³ and she shall put away the cloth, wherein she was taken, and she shall sit in thine house, and she shall beweep her father and her mother by a month (and she shall put away the clothes in which she was taken prisoner, and she shall sit in thy house, and she shall weep for her father and her mother for a full month); and afterward thou shalt enter to her, and thou shalt sleep with her, and she shall be thy wife.

¹⁴ But if afterward she sitteth not in thy soul, that is, (if she) pleaseth not thy will, thou shalt deliver her free, neither thou shalt be able to sell her for money, neither oppress by power, for thou madest her low. (But if afterward she sitteth not right with thy soul, that is, if she pleaseth not thy will, thou shalt set her free, and thou shalt not be able to sell her for money, nor oppress her by force, for thou hast made her low.)

¹⁵ If a man hath two wives, one loved, and another hateful, and he begetteth of her free children, and the son of the odious wife is the first begotten, (If a man hath two wives, one loved, and the other hated, and he begetteth children with them, and the son of the hated wife is the first-born,)

¹⁶ and the father will part his chattel betwixt his sons, he shall not be able to make the son of the loved wife his first begotten son, and set him before the son of the hateful wife, (and the father will divide his possessions between his sons, he shall not be able to make the son of the loved wife his first-born son, and set him before the son of the hated wife,)

¹⁷ but he shall know the son of the hateful wife to be his first begotten son, and he shall give to that son all things double of those things that he hath; for this son is the beginning of his free children, and the first engendered things be due to him. (but he shall acknowledge the son of the hated wife to be his first-born son, and he shall give double to that son of all the things that he hath; for this son is the first of his children, and the rights of the first-born son be due to him.)

¹⁸ If a man beget a son (who is a) rebel, and a froward (boy), that heareth not the behest of his father and mother, and he is chastised, and despiseth to obey to them, (If a man beget a son who is rebellious, and froward, who obeyeth not his father or his mother, and after that he is chastised, he still despiseth to obey them,)

¹⁹ they shall take him, and lead him to the elder men of that city, and to the gate of doom, (or of judgement);

²⁰ and they shall say to them, This our son is overthwart, and (a) rebel; he despiseth to hear our behests, or admonishings, he giveth attention to gluttonies, and to lechery, and to feasts. (and they shall say to them, Our son here is froward and rebellious; he despiseth to hear our commands, or our admonishments, and he only giveth attention to gluttonies, and to lechery, and to feasts.)

²¹ The people of the city shall oppress him with stones, and he shall die, (so) that ye do away evil from the midst of you, and that all Israel hear (of) it, and dread.

²² When a man doeth a sin which is worthy to be punished by death, and he is deemed to (be put to) death, and is hanged in a gibbet (and is hanged on a gallows),

²³ his carrion shall not dwell in the tree, but it shall be buried in the same day; for he that hangeth in the tree/for he that hangeth in the cross is cursed of God, and thou shalt not defoul thy land which thy Lord God gave thee into possession. (his corpse shall not remain on the gallows, but it shall be buried on the same day; for he who hangeth on a tree is cursed by God, and thou shalt not defile thy land which the Lord thy God shall give thee for a possession.)

²¹ And then if any man [shall] say to you, Lo! here is Christ, lo! there, believe ye not.

²² For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall give tokens and wonders, to deceive, if it may be done, yea, them that be chosen.^[a]

²³ Therefore take ye keep; lo! I have before-said to you all things.

²⁴ But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be made dark, and the moon shall not give her light,

²⁵ and the stars of heaven shall fall down, and the virtues that be in heavens, shall be moved.

²⁶ And then they shall see man's Son coming in the clouds of heaven, with great virtue and glory.

²⁷ And then he shall send his angels, and shall gather his chosen from the four winds, from the highest thing of earth till to the highest thing of heaven [from the lowest thing of earth unto the highest thing of heaven].

²⁸ But of the fig tree learn ye the parable [Forsooth of the fig tree learn ye a parable]. When now his branch is tender, and leaves be sprung out, ye know that summer is nigh.

²⁹ So [and] when ye [shall] see these things be done, know ye, that it is nigh in the doors.

³⁰ Truly I say to you, that this generation shall not pass away, till all these things be done.

³¹ Heaven and earth shall pass, but my words shall not pass.

³² But of that day or hour no man knoweth, neither angels in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

³³ See ye, wake ye, and pray ye; for ye know not, when the time is.

³⁴ For as a man that is gone far in pilgrimage, left his house, and gave to his servants power of every work, and commanded to the porter, that he wake [that he should wake].

³⁵ Therefore wake ye, for ye know not, when the lord of the house cometh, in the eventide [in the even], or at midnight, or at cock's crowing, or in the morning;

³⁶ lest when he come suddenly, he find you sleeping.

³⁷ Forsooth that that I say to you, I say to all, Wake ye.