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Deuteronomy 19:15–21

Laws Concerning Witnesses

15 “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. bOnly on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. 16 If ca malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, dbefore the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 The judges shall einquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, 19 fthen you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil3 from your midst. 20 And the rest gshall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. 21 yYour eye shall not pity. hIt shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

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Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — The New International Version (NIV)

15 One witness is not enough to convict anyone accused of any crime or offense they may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse someone of a crime, 17 the two people involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against a fellow Israelite, 19 then do to the false witness as that witness intended to do to the other party. You must purge the evil from among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — King James Version (KJV 1900)

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established. 16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong; 17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; 18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother; 19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. 20 And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. 21 And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — New Living Translation (NLT)

15 “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 “If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, 17 then both the accuser and accused must appear before the Lord by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. 18 The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, 19 you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you. 20 Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. 21 You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — The New King James Version (NKJV)

15 “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established. 16 If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both men in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who serve in those days. 18 And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you. 20 And those who remain shall hear and fear, and hereafter they shall not again commit such evil among you. 21 Your eye shall not pity: life shall be for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — New Century Version (NCV)

15 One witness is not enough to accuse a person of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.

16 If a witness lies and accuses a person of a crime, 17 the two people who are arguing must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges who are on duty. 18 The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness who is a liar, lying about a fellow Israelite, 19 must be punished. He must be punished in the same way the other person would have been punished. You must get rid of the evil among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid, and no one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. 21 Show no mercy. A life must be paid for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — American Standard Version (ASV)

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrong-doing, 17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days; 18 and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and have testified falsely against his brother; 19 then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee. 20 And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of thee. 21 And thine eyes shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)

15 One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established. 16 If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of an offence; 17 then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days; 18 and the judges shall make thorough inquiry; and if the witness be a false witness, and he have testified falsely against his brother, 19 then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. 20 And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in thy midst. 21 And thine eye shall not spare: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

15 One witness is never enough to convict someone of a crime, offense, or sin he may have committed. Cases must be settled based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 

16 This is what you must do whenever a witness takes the stand to accuse a person falsely of a crime. 17 The two people involved must stand in the Lord’s presence, in front of the priests and judges who are serving at that time. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation. If it is found that the witness lied when he testified against the other Israelite, 19 then do to him what he planned to do to the other person. You must get rid of this evil. 20 When the rest of the people hear about this, they will be afraid. Never again will such an evil thing be done among you. 21 Have no pity on him: ⸤Take⸥ a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. 

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)

15 “One witness cannot establish any wrongdoing or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 “If a malicious witness testifies against someone accusing him of a crime, 17 the two people in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges in authority at that time. 18 The judges are to make a careful investigation, and if the witness turns out to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, 19 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from you. 20 Then everyone else will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything evil like this among you. 21 You must not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

15 A single witness shall not suffice to convict a person of any crime or wrongdoing in connection with any offense that may be committed. Only on the evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be sustained. 16 If a malicious witness comes forward to accuse someone of wrongdoing, 17 then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days, 18 and the judges shall make a thorough inquiry. If the witness is a false witness, having testified falsely against another, 19 then you shall do to the false witness just as the false witness had meant to do to the other. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. 20 The rest shall hear and be afraid, and a crime such as this shall never again be committed among you. 21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)

15 The testimony of a single witness may not be used to convict with respect to any crime and for any wrongdoing in any offense that a person committed; on the evidence of two witnesses or on the evidence of three witnesses a charge shall be sustained. 16 If a malicious witness gets up to accuse anyone to testify against him falsely, 17 then the two men to whom the legal dispute pertains shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. 18 Then judges shall make a thorough inquiry, and if it turns out that the witness is a false witness and he testified falsely against his brother, 19 then you shall do to him as he meant to do to his brother, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst. 20 And the rest shall hear and shall fear, and they shall not continue to do such a thing again as this evil thing in your midst. 21 You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)

15 Suppose someone is charged with committing a crime of any kind. Then one witness won’t be enough to prove he is guilty. Every matter must be proved by the words of two or three witnesses.

16 Suppose a witness who tells lies goes to court and brings charges against someone. The witness says that person committed a crime. 17 Then the two people in the case must stand in front of the Lord. They must stand in front of the priests and the judges who are in office at that time. 18 The judges must check out the matter carefully. And suppose the witness is proved to be lying. Then he has given false witness against another Israelite.

19 So do to the lying witness what he tried to do to the other person. Get rid of that evil person. 20 The rest of the people will hear about it. And they will be afraid. They won’t allow such an evil thing to be done among them again.

21 Don’t feel sorry for that evil person. A life must be taken for a life. An eye must be put out for an eye. A tooth must be knocked out for a tooth. A hand must be cut off for a hand and a foot for a foot.

Deuteronomy 19:15–21 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)

15 “A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed.

16 If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing,

17 then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days.

18 “The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely,

19 then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you.

20 “The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you.

21 “Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.


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