Deuteronomy 19
1 “When your God YHWH cuts off the nations whose land your God YHWH is giving to you, and you have dispossessed them, and dwelt in their cities and in their houses,
When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses,
2 you separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which your God YHWH is giving to you to possess it.
then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
3 You prepare the way for yourself, and have divided into three parts the border of your land which your God YHWH causes you to inherit, and it has been for the fleeing there of every manslayer.
You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities.
4 And this [is] the matter of the manslayer who flees there, and has lived: he who strikes his neighbor unknowingly, and is not hating him before—
Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:
5 even he who comes into a forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand has driven with an axe to cut the tree, and the iron has slipped from the wood, and has met his neighbor, and he has died—he flees to one of these cities, and has lived,
If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber and swings his axe to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes and kills his neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities to save his life.
6 lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the manslayer when his heart is hot and has overtaken him, because the way is great, and has struck his life, and he has no sentence of death, for he is not hating him before;
Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.
7 therefore I am commanding you, saying, You separate three cities for yourself.
This is why I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.
8 And if your God YHWH enlarges your border, as He has sworn to your fathers, and has given to you all the land which He has spoken to give to your fathers—
And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them,
9 when you keep all this command to do it, which I am commanding you today, to love your God YHWH and to walk in His ways [for] all the days—then you have added three more cities for yourself to these three;
and if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you today, loving the LORD your God and walking in His ways at all times, then you are to add three more cities to these three.
10 and [do this] lest innocent blood is shed in the midst of your land which your God YHWH is giving to you [for] an inheritance, and there has been blood on you.
Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.
11 And when a man is hating his neighbor, and has lain in wait for him, and risen against him, and struck his life, and he has died, then he has fled to one of these cities,
If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,
12 and [the] elderly of his city have sent and taken him from there, and given him into the hand of the redeemer of blood, and he has died;
the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.
13 your eye has no pity on him, and you have put away the innocent blood from Israel, and it is well with you.
You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.
14 You do not remove a border of your neighbor, which they of former times have made, in your inheritance, which you inherit in the land which your God YHWH is giving to you to possess it.
You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
15 One witness does not rise against a man for any iniquity and for any sin, in any sin which he sins; by the mouth of two witnesses or by the mouth of three witnesses is a thing established.
A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 When a violent witness rises against a man to testify against him apostasy,
If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,
17 then both of the men who have the strife have stood before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who are in those days,
both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.
18 and the judges have searched diligently, and behold, the witness [is] a false witness who has testified a falsehood against his brother,
The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother,
19 then you have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and you have put away evil out of your midst,
you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.
20 and those who are left hear and fear, and do not add to do according to this evil thing in your midst anymore.
Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you.
21 And your eye does not pity—life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”
You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.
