Deuteronomy 19

1 And when the Lord your God shall have destroyed the nations, which God gives you, [even] the land, and you shall inherit them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses,

When the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses,

2 you shall separate for yourself three cities in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you.

you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess.

3 Take a survey of your way, and you shall divide the coasts of your land, which the Lord your God apportions to you, into three parts, and there shall be there a refuge for every manslayer.

You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which the LORD your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there.

4 And this shall be the ordinance of the manslayer, who shall flee there, and shall live, whoever shall have struck his neighbour ignorantly, whereas he hated him not in times past.

This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him in time past—

5 And whoever shall enter with his neighbour into the thicket, to gather wood, if the hand of him that cuts wood with the axe should be violently shaken, and the axe head falling off from the handle should light on his neighbour, and he should die, he shall flee to one of these cities, and live.

as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live.

6 Lest the avenger of blood pursue after the slayer, because his heart is hot, and overtake him, if the way be too long, and kill him, though there is to this man no sentence of death, because he hated him not in time past.

Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past.

7 Therefore I charge you, saying, You shall separate for your self three cities.

Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves.

8 And if the Lord shall enlarge your borders, as he sware to your fathers, and the Lord shall give to you all the land which he said he would give to your fathers;

If the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers;

9 if you shall listen to do all these commands, which I charge you this day, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways continually; you shall add for yourself yet three cities to these three.

and if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk ever in his ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three.

10 So innocent blood shall not be spilt in the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit, and there shall not be in you one guilty of blood.

This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you.

11 But if there should be in you a man hating his neighbour, and he should lay wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him, that he die, and he should flee to one of these cities,

But if any man hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, strikes him mortally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities;

12 then shall the elders of his city send, and take him thence, and they shall deliver him into the hands of the avengers of blood, and he shall die.

then the elders of his city shall send and bring him there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

13 Your eye shall not spare him; so shall you purge innocent blood from Israel, and it shall be well with you.

Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with you.

14 You shall not move the landmarks of your neighbour, which your fathers set in the inheritance, in which you have obtained a share in the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit.

You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit, in the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess.

15 One witness shall not stand to testify against a man for any iniquity, or for any fault, or for any sin which he may commit; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, shall every word be established.

One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin that he sins. At the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.

16 And if an unjust witness rise up against a man, alleging iniquity against him;

If an unrighteous witness rises up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,

17 then shall the two men between whom the controversy is, stand before the Lord, and before the priests, and before the judges, who may be in those days.

then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;

18 And the judges shall make diligent enquiry, and, behold, [if] and unjust witness has borne unjust testimony; [and] has stood up against his brother;

and the judges shall make diligent inquisition; and behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother,

19 then shall you do to him as he wickedly devised to do against his brother, and you shall remove the evil from yourselves.

then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother. So you shall remove the evil from among you.

20 And the rest shall hear and fear, and do no more according to this evil thing in the midst of you.

Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and will never again commit any such evil among you.

21 Your eye shall not spare him: [you shall exact] life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Your eyes shall not pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.