5 Mosebog 19
1 Naar HERREN din Gud faar udryddet de Folk, hvis Land HERREN din Gud vil give dig, og du faar dem drevet bort og har bosat dig i deres Byer og Huse,
When the nations, whose land the Lord your God is giving you, have been cut off by him, and you have taken their place and are living in their towns and in their houses;
2 da skal du udtage dig tre Byer midt i dit Land, som HERREN din Gud giver dig i Eje.
You are to have three towns marked out in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.
3 Du skal sætte Vejen til dem i Stand og dele dit Landomraade, som HERREN din Gud tildeler dig, i tre Dele, for at enhver Manddraber kan ty derhen.
You are to make ready a way, and see that the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, is marked out into three parts, to which any taker of life may go in flight.
4 Men om de Manddrabere, der har Ret til at ty derhen for at redde Livet, gælder følgende: Naar nogen af Vanvare slaar sin Næste ihjel, uden at han i Forvejen har baaret Nag til ham,
This is to be the rule for anyone who goes in flight there, after causing the death of his neighbour in error and not through hate;
5 naar saaledes en gaar med sin Næste ud i Skoven for at fælde Træer, og hans Haand svinger Øksen for at fælde et Træ, og Jernet farer ud af Skaftet og rammer hans Næste, saa han dør, da maa han ty til en af disse Byer og redde Livet,
For example, if a man goes into the woods with his neighbour for the purpose of cutting down trees, and when he takes his axe to give a blow to the tree, the head of the axe comes off, and falling on to his neighbour gives him a wound causing his death; then the man may go in flight to one of these towns and be safe:
6 for at ikke Blodhævneren i Ophidselse skal sætte efter Manddraberen og, fordi Vejen er for lang, indhente ham og slaa ham ihjel, skønt han ikke havde fortjent Døden, eftersom han ikke i Forvejen havde baaret Nag til ham.
For if not, he who has the right of punishment may go running after the taker of life in the heat of his wrath, and overtake him because the way is long, and give him a death-blow; though it is not right for him to be put to death because he was not moved by hate.
7 Derfor giver jeg dig dette Bud: Tre Byer skal du udtage dig!
And so I am ordering you to see that three towns are marked out for this purpose.
8 Og dersom HERREN din Gud udvider dine Landemærker, som han tilsvor dine Fædre, og giver dig hele det Land, han lovede at give dine Fædre,
And if the Lord your God makes wide the limits of your land, as he said in his oath to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he undertook to give to your fathers;
9 fordi du omhyggeligt overholder alle disse Bud, som jeg i Dag paalægger dig, idet du elsker HERREN din Gud og vandrer paa hans Veje alle Dage, saa skal du føje endnu tre Byer til disse tre,
If you keep and do all these orders which I give you today, loving the Lord your God and walking ever in his ways; then let three more towns, in addition to these three, be marked out for you:
10 for at der ikke skal udgydes uskyldigt Blod i dit Land, som HERREN din Gud giver dig i Eje, saa du paadrager dig Blodskyld.
So that in all your land, which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, no man may be wrongly put to death, for which you will be responsible.
11 Men naar en Mand, som bærer Nag til sin Næste, lægger sig paa Lur efter ham, overfalder ham og slaar ham ihjel, og han saa flygter til en af disse Byer,
But if any man has hate for his neighbour, and waiting for him secretly makes an attack on him and gives him a blow causing his death, and then goes in flight to one of these towns;
12 skal hans Bys Ældste sende Bud og lade ham hente hjem derfra og overgive ham i Blodhævnerens Haand, og han skal lade sit Liv.
The responsible men of his town are to send and take him, and give him up to the one who has the right of punishment to be put to death.
13 Skaan ham ikke, men rens Israel for den uskyldiges Blod, at det maa gaa dig vel.
Have no pity on him, so that Israel may be clear from the crime of putting a man to death without cause, and it will be well for you.
14 Du maa ikke flytte din Næstes Markskel, som tidligere Slægter har sat, ved den Arvelod, du faar tildelt i det Land, HERREN din Gud vil give dig i Eje.
Your neighbour's landmark, which was put in its place by the men of old times, is not to be moved or taken away in the land of your heritage which the Lord your God is giving you.
15 En enkelt kan ikke optræde som Vidne mod en Mand, naar det angaar Misgerning eller Synd, hvad Synd det end er, han begaar; kun paa to eller tre Vidners Udsagn kan en Sag afgøres.
One witness may not make a statement against a man in relation to any sin or wrongdoing which he has done: on the word of two or three witnesses a question is to be judged.
16 Naar et ondsindet Vidne optræder mod nogen og beskylder ham for Lovbrud,
If a false witness makes a statement against a man, saying that he has done wrong,
17 skal begge de stridende fremstille sig for HERRENS Aasyn, for de Præster og Dommere, der er til den Tid,
Then the two men, between whom the argument has taken place, are to come before the Lord, before the priests and judges who are then in power;
18 og Dommerne skal undersøge Sagen grundigt, og hvis det viser sig, at Vidnet er et falsk Vidne, der har aflagt falsk Vidnesbyrd mod sin Broder,
And the judges will have the question looked into with care: and if the witness is seen to be false and to have made a false statement against his brother,
19 saa skal I gøre med ham, som han havde til Hensigt at gøre med sin Broder; du skal udrydde det onde af din Midte.
Then do to him what it was his purpose to do to his brother: and so put away the evil from among you.
20 Naar da de andre hører det, vil de gribes af Frygt og ikke mere øve en saadan Udaad i din Midte.
And the rest of the people, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and never again do such evil among you.
21 Du maa ikke vise Skaansel: Liv for Liv, Øje for Øje, Tand for Tand, Haand for Haand, Fod for Fod!
Have no pity; let life be given for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
