Deuteronomy 19

1 When the LORD thy God hath cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest 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 Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth 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 shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the bounds of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee there.

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 case of the slayer, who shall flee there, that he may live: Whoever killeth his neighbour unintentionally, whom he hated not in time past;

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 As when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand maketh a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and falleth upon his neighbour, that he dieth; he shall flee to one of these cities, and live:

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 avenger of blood shall pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; though he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

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 command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee.

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

8 And if the LORD thy God shall enlarge thy land, as he hath sworn to thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised 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 If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides 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 That innocent blood may not be shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

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 But if any man shall hate his neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he dieth, and he shall flee into 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 shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

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 Thy eye shall not pity him, but thou shall remove the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may be 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 shalt not remove thy neighbour’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thy inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth 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 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.

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 If a false witness shall rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;

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

17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, who shall be 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 shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and hath testified falsely 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 shall ye do to him, as he had thought to do to his brother: so shalt thou remove the evil from among you.

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 remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

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

21 And thy eye shall not pity; but life shall go 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.”