Deuteronomy 19
19
Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge
1“When #ch. 12:29the Lord your God cuts 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#Ex. 21:13; Num. 35:10, 14; Josh. 20:2, 8you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3You shall measure the distances#19:3 Hebrew road and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.
4“This is the provision for #ch. 4:42; Num. 35:15; Josh. 20:3, 5the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— 5as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, 6lest #Num. 35:12, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. 7Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. 8#ch. 12:20 And if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, #Ex. 34:24; [Ex. 23:31] as he has sworn to your fathers, and #See Gen. 15:18-21gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— 9provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—#ver. 2; [Josh. 20:7]then you shall add three other cities to these three, 10lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.
11“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him #ch. 27:24; Ex. 21:12, 14; See Num. 35:16-21and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, 12then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13#See ch. 7:16 Your eye shall not pity him, #ch. 21:9; Num. 35:33; [1 Kgs. 2:31]but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood#19:13 Or the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
Property Boundaries
14 # ch. 27:17; Job 24:2; Prov. 22:28; 23:10; Hos. 5:10 “You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.
Laws Concerning Witnesses
15“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. #Cited Matt. 18:16; 2 Cor. 13:1; See Num. 35:30Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16If #[Ex. 23:1; Ps. 35:11]a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, #ch. 17:8, 9; [ch. 21:5]before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18The judges shall #ch. 13:14; 17:4inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19#Prov. 19:5, 9; [Dan. 6:24]then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil#19:19 Or evil person from your midst. 20And the rest #See ch. 13:11shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21#[See ver. 13 above] Your eye shall not pity. #See Ex. 21:23, 24It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Deuteronomy 19
19
Cities of refuge
1Once the LORD your God has eliminated those nations—whose land the LORD your God is giving you—and you displace them, settling into their cities and their houses, 2you must designate three cities for your use in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3Mark out the roads to them#19.3 Heb uncertain and lacks to them. and divide the regions of the land the LORD your God is apportioning to you into three parts. These cities are the places to which a person who has killed can escape. 4Here is the rule concerning a person who killed someone and is permitted to escape to one of these cities and live:
If it is someone who killed his neighbor accidentally, without having hated that person previously; 5or if someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to chop some wood, and while swinging an ax to cut down the tree, the axhead flies off its handle and hits the neighbor, who subsequently dies—these kinds of killers may escape to one of these cities and live. 6Otherwise, the blood avenger will chase after the killer out of rage and—especially if the distance to one of these cities#19.6 Heb lacks to one of these cities. is too far—might catch and kill him, even though a death sentence was not in order because the killer didn’t have prior malice toward the other. 7This is why I am commanding you as follows: Designate three cities for your use.
8Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors—and he will give you all the land he swore to give to them 9as long as you keep all this commandment that I am giving you right now by doing it, by loving the LORD your God, and by always walking in his ways—you can add three more cities for your use along with the first three. 10Innocent blood must not be spilled in the land the LORD your God is giving to you as an inheritance, or it will be bloodshed that will be required of you.
11But if someone does hate a neighbor and ambushes him, rising up against him and attacking him so he dies, and then escapes to one of these cities, 12elders from the killer’s hometown will send word, and the killer will be sent back from there. They will then hand him over to the blood avenger, and he will be executed. 13Show no mercy to such killers. Remove#19.13 Or burn innocent bloodshed from Israel so that things go well for you.
Property laws
14Now in the land the LORD your God is giving you, in your allotted property that you will receive there, you must not tamper with your neighbor’s property line, which has been previously established.
Rules for testimony
15A solitary witness against someone in any crime, wrongdoing, or in any sort of misdeed that might be done is not sufficient. The decision must stand by two or three witnesses. 16Now if a spiteful witness comes forward against someone, so as to testify against them falsely, 17the two persons who have a legal suit must stand before the LORD, before the priests, and before the judges that are in office at that time. 18The judges will look into the situation very carefully. If it turns out that the witness is a liar—that the witness has given false testimony against his fellow Israelite— 19then you must do to him what he had planned to do to his fellow Israelite. Remove#19.19 Or burn such evil from your community! 20The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. They won’t do that sort of evil thing among you again. 21Show no mercy on this point: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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