Deuteronomy 19
1 After Yahweh our God has gotten rid of the people-groups from the land that he is giving to you, and after you have expelled them from their cities and you start to live in their houses,
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,
2 you must divide into three parts the land that he is giving to you. Then choose a city in each part. You must make good roads [in order that people can get to those cities easily]. Someone who kills another person can escape to one of those cities [to be safe/protected].
three cities, shalt thou set apart for thee, —in the midst of thy land which Yahweh thy God is giving thee to possess.
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.
4 “This is the rule about someone who has killed another person. If someone (accidentally/without planning to) kills another person who was not his enemy, he may escape to one of those cities and be safe/protected there.
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;
5 For example, if two men go into the forest to cut some wood, if the axe head comes off the handle while one of them is chopping down a tree and the axe head strikes and kills the other man, the man [who was using the axe] will be allowed to run to one of those cities and be safe there, [because the people of that city will protect him].
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;
6 Because he accidentally killed someone, and because the man was not his enemy, he can try to run to one of those cities. If there were only one city, it may be a long distance to that city. Then if the relative of the man who was killed [MTY], the man who is supposed/expected to get revenge, is very angry, he may be able to catch the other person before he arrives at that city.
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.
7 [To prevent that from happening], you must choose three cities, not only one, [in order that someone can get to one of those cities quickly].
For this cause, am I commanding thee saying, —Three cities, shalt thou set apart for thee.
8 “If you do everything that I am today commanding you to do, and if you love Yahweh our God, and if you conduct your lives as he wants you to do, Yahweh our God will give you much more land than you will have when you first occupy it, which is what he promised to do. He will give you all the land which he promised your ancestors that he would give to you. When he gives you that land, you must select three more cities [to which people may escape].
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;
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;
10 Do this in order that people who (are innocent/have killed someone else without planning to) will not die, and you will not be guilty for [allowing] them to be executed, in the land that Yahweh is giving to you.
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.
11 “But suppose someone hates his enemy and hides and waits for that person [to come along the road]. Then [when he passes by, suddenly] he attacks him and murders him. If the attacker flees to one of those cities [to be protected there],
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,
12 the elders of the city [where the murdered man lived must not protect the attacker. They]. must send someone to the city to which the other man escaped, and bring him to [MTY] the relative who is supposed/expected to get revenge, so that he may execute that man.
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;
13 You must not pity those who murder other people! Instead, you must execute them, in order that the people in the land of Israel will not murder [MTY] innocent people, and in order that things will go well for you.”
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.
14 “[When you are living] in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, do not move the markers of your neighbors’ property boundaries which were placed there long ago.”
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.
15 “If someone is accused of committing a crime, one (witness/person who says, ‘I saw him do it’) is not enough. There must be at least two (witnesses/people who say, ‘We saw him do it’). [If there is only one witness], the judge must not believe that what he says is true.
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.
16 “If someone tries to do wrong to another person by falsely accusing him,
When there shall rise up a wrongful witness against a man, —to answer against him perversely,
17 both of them must go to the place where the people worship, to [talk to] the priests and judges who are serving at that time.
then shall the two men who are at variance stand before Yahweh, —before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;
18 The judges must (investigate the case carefully/try to find out which one is telling the truth). If [the judges determine that] one of them has accused the other falsely,
and the judges shall make diligent inquisition, —and lo! if the witness be, a false witness and, falsely, have answered against his brother,
19 that person must be punished in the same way that the other one would have been punished [if the judge decided that he (was guilty/had done what is wrong)]. By punishing such people, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.
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;
20 And/Because when that person is punished, everyone will hear what has happened, and they will be afraid, and no one will dare to act that way any more.
and, they who remain shall hear and fear, —and not go on to do again according to this wicked thing, in thy midst:
21 You must not pity people who are punished like that. The rule should be that a person who has murdered someone else must be executed; one of a person’s eyes must be gouged out if he has gouged out someone else’s eye, one tooth of a person who has knocked out the tooth of another person must be knocked out; one hand of a person who has cut off the hand of another person must likewise be cut off; one foot of a person who has cut off the foot of another person must also be cut off.”
neither shall thine eye pity, —life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
