Deuteronomy 19

Cities of Refuge

19:1–14Ref—Nu 35:6–34; Dt 4:41–43; Jos 20:1–9

19When the Lord your God has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their towns and houses,^{q 2}then set aside for yourselves three cities in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess. ³Determine the distances involved and divide into three parts the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that a person who kills someone may flee for refuge to one of these cities.

⁴This is the rule concerning anyone who kills a person and flees there for safety—anyone who kills a neighbor unintentionally, without malice aforethought. ⁵For instance, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he swings his ax to fell a tree, the head may fly off and hit his neighbor and kill him. That man may flee to one of these cities and save his life. ⁶Otherwise, the avenger of blood^r might pursue him in a rage, overtake him if the distance is too great, and kill him even though he is not deserving of death, since he did it to his neighbor without malice aforethought. ⁷This is why I command you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

⁸If the Lord your God enlarges your territory,^s as he promised^t on oath to your ancestors, and gives you the whole land he promised them, ⁹because you carefully follow all these laws I command you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk always in obedience to him^u—then you are to set aside three more cities. ¹⁰Do this so that innocent blood^v will not be shed in your land, which the Lord your God is giving you as your inheritance, and so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.^w

¹¹But if out of hate someone lies in wait, assaults and kills a neighbor,^x and then flees to one of these cities, ¹²the killer shall be sent for by the town elders, be brought back from the city, and be handed over to the avenger of blood to die. ¹³Show no pity.^y You must purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood,^z so that it may go well with you.

¹⁴Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone set up by your predecessors in the inheritance you receive in the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.^a

Witnesses

¹⁵One 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.^b

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