Deuteronomy 19

1 When Yahweh thy God, shall cut off the nations whose land Yahweh thy God is giving thee, —and thou shalt dispossess them, and dwell in their cities and in their houses,

“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,

2 three cities, shalt thou set apart for thee, —in the midst of thy land which Yahweh thy God is giving thee to possess.

you separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which your God YHWH is giving to you to possess it.

3 Thou shalt prepare for thee a way, and shalt divide into three parts the boundary of thy land which Yahweh thy God shall cause thee to inherit, —and it shall be that every manslayer shall flee thither.

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.

4 And, this, is the case of the manslayer, who shall flee thither and live, —Whoso shall smite his neighbour unwittingly, he, not having hated him aforetime;

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—

5 as when one entereth with his neighbour into a forest, to fell trees, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe, to cut down the tree, and the head flieth off from the handle, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die, he, shall flee into one of these cities, and live;

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,

6 lest the blood redeemer pursue the manslayer because his heart is hot, and overtake him because the way is long, and he smite him so as to take away his life, —he not being worthy of death, seeing that he had not been hating him aforetime.

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;

7 For this cause, am I commanding thee saying, —Three cities, shalt thou set apart for thee.

therefore I am commanding you, saying, You separate three cities for yourself.

8 But, if Yahweh thy God should enlarge thy bounds, as he sware unto thy fathers, —and should give thee all the land, which he spake of giving unto thy fathers;

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—

9 because thou dost observe all this commandment to do it which I am commanding thee to-day, to love Yahweh thy God and to walk in his paths all the days, then shalt thou add unto thee yet three cities, unto these three;

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;

10 that innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of thy land, which Yahweh thy God is giving unto thee as an inheritance, —and so shed-blood be upon thee.

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.

11 But, when any man shall be hating his neighbour, and shall lie in wait for him and rise up against him, and smite him so as to take away his life that he dieth, —and shall then flee into one of these cities,

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,

12 then shall the elders of his city send and fetch him from thence, —and deliver him into the hand of the blood redeemer that he die;

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;

13 thine eye shall not look with pity upon him, —so shall thou consume the shedding of innocent blood out of Israel and it shall go well with thee.

your eye has no pity on him, and you have put away the innocent blood from Israel, and it is well with you.

14 Thou shalt not move back the boundary of thy neighbour, by which they set bounds at first, —in thine inheritance which thou shall receive in the land which Yahweh thy God is giving thee to possess.

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.

15 One witness, shall not rise up, against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, with regard to any sin that he may commit, —at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses, must a matter be establish.

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.

16 When there shall rise up a wrongful witness against a man, —to answer against him perversely,

When a violent witness rises against a man to testify against him apostasy,

17 then shall the two men who are at variance stand before Yahweh, —before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;

then both of the men who have the strife have stood before YHWH, before the priests and the judges who are in those days,

18 and the judges shall make diligent inquisition, —and lo! if the witness be, a false witness and, falsely, have answered against his brother,

and the judges have searched diligently, and behold, the witness [is] a false witness who has testified a falsehood against his brother,

19 then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to de unto his brother, —so shalt thou consume the wicked thing out of thy midst;

then you have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and you have put away evil out of your midst,

20 and, they who remain shall hear and fear, —and not go on to do again according to this wicked thing, in thy midst:

and those who are left hear and fear, and do not add to do according to this evil thing in your midst anymore.

21 neither shall thine eye pity, —life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

And your eye does not pity—life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”