Deuteronomy 19

1 'When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and thou hast succeeded them, and dwelt in their cities, and in their houses,

“When the Lord your God will have destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to you, and when you possess it and live in its cities and buildings,

2 three cities thou dost separate for thee in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

you shall separate for yourselves three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give to you as a possession,

3 Thou dost prepare for thee the way, and hast divided into three parts the border of thy land which Jehovah thy God doth cause thee to inherit, and it hath been for the fleeing thither of every man-slayer.

paving the road carefully. And you shall divide the entire province of your land equally into three parts, so that he who is forced to flee because of manslaughter may have a place nearby to which he may be able to escape.

4 'And this [is] the matter of the man-slayer who fleeth thither, and hath lived: He who smiteth his neighbour unknowingly, and is not hating him heretofore,

This shall be the law of the killer who flees, whose life is to be saved. Whoever strikes down his neighbor unwillingly, and who has been proven to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before,

5 even he who cometh in with his neighbour into a forest to hew wood, and his hand hath driven with an axe to cut the tree, and the iron hath slipped from the wood, and hath met his neighbour, and he hath died — he doth flee unto one of these cities, and hath lived,

such that he had gone with him into the forest simply to cut wood, and in cutting down the tree, the axe slipped from his hand, or the iron slipped from the handle, and it struck his friend and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities stated above, and he shall live.

6 lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the man-slayer when his heart is hot, and hath overtaken him (because the way is great), and hath smitten him — the life, and he hath no sentence of death, for he is not hating him heretofore;

Otherwise, perhaps the near relative of him whose blood was shed, impelled by his grief, might pursue and apprehend him, unless the way is too long, and he might strike down the life of him who is not guilty unto death, since he had demonstrated that he had no prior hatred against him who was slain.

7 therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Three cities thou dost separate to thee.

For this reason, I instruct you to separate three cities at equal distance from one another.

8 'And if Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn to thy fathers, and hath given to thee all the land which He hath spoken to give to thy fathers —

And when the Lord your God will have enlarged your borders, just as he swore to your fathers, and when he will have given to you all the land that he has promised to them,

9 when thou keepest all this command to do it, which I am commanding thee to-day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk in His ways all the days — then thou hast added to thee yet three cities to these three;

(but this is only so if you will keep his commandments and do the things which I instruct to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in his ways at all times) you shall add for yourselves three other cities, and so you shall double the number of the three cities stated above.

10 and innocent blood is not shed in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee — an inheritance, and there hath been upon thee blood.

So may innocent blood not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord your God will give you to possess, lest you be guilty of blood.

11 'And when a man is hating his neighbour, and hath lain in wait for him, and risen against him, and smitten him — the life, and he hath died, and he hath fled unto one of these cities,

But if anyone, having hatred for his neighbor, will have lain in ambush for his life, and, rising up, will have struck him, and he will have died, and if he will have fled to one of the cities stated above,

12 then the elders of his city have sent and taken him from thence, and given him into the hand of the redeemer of blood, and he hath died;

the elders of his city shall send, and they shall take him from the place of refuge, and they shall deliver him into the hand of the relative of him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.

13 thine eye hath no pity on him, and thou hast put away the innocent blood from Israel, and it is well with thee.

You shall not take pity on him, and so shall you take away the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may be well with you.

14 'Thou dost not remove a border of thy neighbour, which they of former times have made, in thine inheritance, which thou dost inherit in the land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

You shall not take up or move the landmark of your neighbor, which those before you have placed, in your possession that the Lord your God will give to you, in the land you will receive to possess.

15 'One witness doth not rise against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin which he sinneth; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, is a thing established.

One witness shall not stand against another, no matter what the sin or outrage may be. For every word shall stand by the mouth of two or three witnesses.

16 'When a violent witness doth rise against a man, to testify against him apostasy,

If a lying witness will have stood against a man, accusing him of a transgression,

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

both of those whose case it is shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges who shall be in those days.

18 and the judges have searched diligently, and lo, the witness [is] a false witness, a falsehood he hath testified against his brother:

And when, after a very diligent examination, they will have found that the false witness had told a lie against his brother,

19 'Then ye have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst,

they shall render to him just as he intended to do to his brother. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst.

20 and those who are left do hear and fear, and add not to do any more according to this evil thing in thy midst;

Then the others, upon hearing this, will be afraid, and they will by no means dare to do such things.

21 and thine eye doth not pity — life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

You shall not take pity on him. Instead, you shall require a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.”