Deuteronomy 19
19
1When the LORD thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; 2thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. 3Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which the LORD thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither. 4And this is the case of the manslayer, which shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbour unawares, and hated him not in time past; 5as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live: 6lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. 7Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. 8And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy border, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; 9if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three: 10that innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. 11But if any man hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die; and he flee into one of these cities: 12then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
14Thou shalt not remove thy neighbour's landmark, which they of old time have set, in thine inheritance which thou shalt inherit, in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. 15One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. 16If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrong-doing; 17then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges which shall be in those days; 18and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; 19then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. 20And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of thee. 21And thine eye shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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Deuteronomy 19: RV1885
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maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Deuteronomy 19
19
The Cities of Refuge
(Num 35.9–34; Josh 20.1–9)
1“After the LORD your God has destroyed the people whose land he is giving you and after you have taken their cities and houses and settled there, 2-3divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then anyone who kills someone will be able to escape to one of them for protection. 4If someone accidentally kills someone who is not an enemy, he may escape to any of these cities and be safe. 5For example, if two men go into the forest together to cut wood and if, as one of them is chopping down a tree, the head of the axe comes off the handle and kills the other, he can run to one of those three cities and be safe. 6If there were only one city, the distance to it might be too great, and the relative who is responsible for taking revenge for the killing might catch him and in his anger kill an innocent neighbour. After all, it was by accident that he killed his neighbour who was not his enemy. 7This is why I order you to set aside three cities.
8“When the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he told your ancestors he would, and gives you all the land he has promised, 9then you are to select three more cities. (He will give you this land if you do everything that I command you today and if you love the LORD your God and live according to his teachings.) 10Do this, so that innocent people will not die and so that you will not be guilty of putting them to death in the land that the LORD is giving you.
11“But suppose someone deliberately murders an enemy in cold blood and then escapes to one of those cities for protection. 12In that case, the leaders of his own town are to send for him and hand him over to the relative responsible for taking revenge for the murder, so that he may be put to death. 13Show him no mercy. Rid Israel of this murderer, so that all will go well with you.
Ancient Boundaries
14 #
Deut 27.17
“Do not move your neighbour's boundary mark, established long ago in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Concerning Witnesses
15 #
Num 35.30; Deut 17.6; Mt 18.16; Jn 8.17; 2 Cor 13.1; 1 Tim 5.19; Heb 10.28 “One witness is not enough to convict a man of a crime; at least two witnesses are necessary to prove that a man is guilty. 16If someone tries to harm someone else by false accusation, 17both are to go to the one place of worship and be judged by the priests and judges who are then in office. 18The judges will investigate the case thoroughly; and if someone has made a false accusation against a fellow-Israelite, 19that person is to receive the punishment the accused would have received. In this way you will get rid of this evil. 20Then everyone else will hear what happened; they will be afraid, and no one will ever again do such an evil thing. 21#Ex 21.23–25; Lev 24.19–20; Mt 5.38In such cases show no mercy; the punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.
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Good News Bible with Deuterocanonicals/Apocrypha. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.