< 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,
Cuando Yahvé, tu Dios, haya exterminado los pueblos cuya tierra Yahvé, tu Dios, te dará, y los hayas desposeído y habitares en sus ciudades y en sus casas,
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].
te separarás tres ciudades en medio de la tierra que Yahvé, tu Dios, te dé en posesión.
Prepararás el camino y dividirás en tres partes el territorio de tu país que Yahvé, tu Dios, va a darte como herencia, para que en estas (ciudades) pueda refugiarse todo el que haya cometido homicidio.
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.
He aquí el caso en que el homicida podrá huirse allí para salvar su vida: si el que mató a su prójimo lo hizo sin querer y sin tenerle odio anteriormente.
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].
Uno sale, por ejemplo, con su compañero al bosque a cortar leña, y al blandir con su mano el hacha para cortar el árbol se le salta el hierro del mango e hiere a su compañero, y este muere: tal hombre se refugiará en una de aquellas ciudades y vivirá;
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.
no sea que el vengador de la sangre persiga en su excesivo furor al homicida y le alcance, por ser largo el camino, y le quite la vida, sin que haya merecido la muerte, pues no le odiaba anteriormente.
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].
Por eso te mando, diciendo: Te separarás tres ciudades.
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].
Y cuando Yahvé tu Dios, ensanchare tus términos, como lo ha jurado a tus padres, y te diere toda la tierra que prometió dar a tus padres
—con tal que guardes todos estos mandamientos que yo te ordeno hoy, para ponerlos en práctica, amando a Yahvé, tu Dios, y andando en sus caminos todos los días agregarás otras tres ciudades a las tres anteriores,
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.
para que no se derrame sangre inocente en medio de la tierra que Yahvé, tu Dios, te dará por herencia tuya, y no caiga sangre sobre ti.
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],
Pero si uno por el odio que tiene a su prójimo, le pone asechanzas, y levantándose contra él le hiere mortalmente, y huye después a una de aquellas ciudades;
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.
entonces, los ancianos de su ciudad enviarán a sacarle de allí, y le entregarán en manos del vengador de la sangre para que muera.
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.”
Tu ojo no tenga compasión de él; pues con eso quitarás de Israel el crimen cometido contra sangre inocente, y te irá bien.
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.”
No moverás los lindes de tu prójimo, que pusieron los antepasados, en la heredad que has de poseer, en la tierra que Yahvé, tu Dios va a darte en posesión.
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.
Un solo testigo no vale contra un hombre acusado de cualquier delito o pecado, cualquiera que sea el pecado que haya cometido. Por el testimonio de dos testigos, o por el testimonio de tres testigos, se decide la causa.
16 “If someone tries to do wrong to another person by falsely accusing him,
Cuando se levantare un testigo falso contra un hombre para acusarle de un delito,
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.
entonces los dos hombres que tienen el pleito comparecerán ante Yahvé, ante los sacerdotes y los jueces que hubiere en ese tiempo;
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,
y si los jueces, después de una diligente investigación, hallaren que el testigo es un testigo falso y ha dicho mentira contra su hermano,
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.
harás con él lo mismo que él pensaba hacer con su hermano. Así extirparás el mal de en medio de ti;
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.
y los demás al oírlo temerán y no cometerán más semejante maldad en medio de ti.
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.”
Tu ojo no tenga compasión de él: vida por vida, ojo por ojo, diente por diente, mano por mano, pie por pie.