19“When Yahweh your God has exterminated^a the nations concerning whom Yahweh your God is giving to you their land, and you have dispossessed them, and you have settled in their towns and in their houses, ²you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. ³You shall prepare the roads^b for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that it will be available for any manslayer to flee there.^c

⁴“Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live there who has killed his neighbor unintentionally,^d and he did not hate him previously.^e ⁵For example,^f when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron head slips from the handle of the tool and strikes his neighbor and he dies, then he may flee to one of these cities, and so he may live. ⁶He does this lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because he is hot with anger^g and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance to the city of refuge, and so he kills him,^h but he did not deserve a death sentence,ⁱ because he was not hating him before.^j ⁷Therefore I am commanding you, saying,^k ‘You shall set apart three cities.’ ⁸Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory just as he swore to your ancestors^l and gives^m to you all the land that he promisedⁿ to give to your ancestors,^o ⁹then if you diligently observe this entire commandment^p that I am commanding you today^q by loving Yahweh your God and by going^r in his ways at all times,^s then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three. ¹⁰Do this so that innocent blood will not be shed^t in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you as an inheritance and thereby bloodguilt would be on you.^u

¹¹But if someone hates^v his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up^w against him and murders him,^x and the murderer flees to one of these cities, ¹²then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death. ¹³Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that good will be directed toward you.^y

¹⁴“You shall not move the boundary marker of your neighbor that former generations^z set up on your property in the land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it. ¹⁵The testimony of a single witness may not be used to convict^a with respect to any crime and for any wrongdoing in any offense that a person^b committed; on the evidence^c of two witnesses or on the evidence^d of three witnesses a charge shall be sustained.^e ¹⁶If a malicious witness^f gets up to accuse^g anyone to testify against him falsely, ¹⁷then the two men to whom the legal dispute pertains^h shall stand beforeⁱ Yahweh, before^j the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. ¹⁸Then judges shall make a thorough inquiry, and if it turns out^k that the witness is a false witness and he testified falsely against his brother, ¹⁹then you shall do to him as he meant^l to do to his brother, and so you shall purge the evil from your midst. ²⁰And the rest^m shall hear and shall fear, and they shall not continue to do such a thing againⁿ as this evil thing in your midst. ²¹You must show no pity:^o life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.”

Read in Logos

Footnotes

aLiterally “cut off”
bHebrew “road”
cLiterally “it shall be to flee there all/anyone killing”
dLiterally “with no knowledge”
eLiterally “from yesterday and the day before”
fLiterally “And as”
gLiterally “is hot his heart”
hLiterally “he strikes him down as to his life/soul”
iLiterally “for him there was not a judgment of death”
jLiterally “from yesterday and the day before”
kLiterally “to say”
lOr “fathers”
mHebrew “will give”
nLiterally “spoke”
oOr “fathers”
pLiterally “if you observe all of the commandment the this to do it”
qLiterally “the day”
rOr “walking”
sLiterally “all of the days”
tHebrew “is not shed”
uHebrew “shall be on you,” but conditional sense of imperfect is clear
vHebrew “is hating”
wOr “gets up”
xLiterally “and strikes him mortally with regard to his life and he dies”
yLiterally “and good shall be for you” or “it shall be good for you”
zLiterally “the first settlers/ancestors”
aLiterally “Not shall get up only a single witness against a man”
bHebrew “he”
cLiterally “mouth”
dLiterally “mouth”
eLiterally “shall be established a case/charge”
fLiterally “a witness of violence”
gLiterally “against”
hLiterally “who for them are the legal dispute”
iLiterally “to the face of”
jLiterally “to the face of”
kOr “in fact”
lOr “planned”
mLiterally “and those remaining”
nLiterally “and they shall not do again to do again”
oLiterally “And not take pity your eye”