DeuteronomyChapter 19

Tap any verse to comment or suggest a better wording.

¹The LORD your God will cut off the nations whose land he is giving you. You will drive them out and live in their cities and houses. ²When that happens, set apart three cities for yourselves. They must be in the land the LORD your God is giving you to own. ³Build roads to them. Divide the land the LORD your God is giving you into three parts. Then anyone who has killed a person can run to one of these cities. ⁴This is the rule for someone who kills a person and runs to one of these cities to save his life. He must have killed his neighbor by accident. He must not have meant to hurt him. ⁵For example, a man may go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood. He swings his axe to chop down a tree. But the axe head flies off the handle. It hits his neighbor and kills him. That man may run to one of these cities to save his life. ⁶If he can't, the relative who avenges the dead man might chase him in anger. If the trip is long, he might catch him and kill him. But the man did not deserve to die. He did not mean to hurt anyone.a ⁷That is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves. ⁸The LORD your God may make your land bigger, as he swore to your fathers. He may give you all the land he promised them. ⁹And you may carefully keep all these commands I am giving you today. You may love the LORD your God and always walk in his ways. If so, then add three more cities to these three. ¹⁰Then innocent blood will not be spilled in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your own. And you will not be guilty of killing. ¹¹But a man may hate his neighbor. He may hide and wait for him, attack him, and kill him. Then he may run to one of these cities. ¹²If so, the elders of his own city must send for him and bring him back. They must hand him over to the relative who avenges the dead man. And he will die. ¹³Show him no pity. You must get rid of the guilt of killing innocent people from Israel. Then things will go well for you. ¹⁴Do not move your neighbor's boundary stone. People who lived long ago set it up. It marks the share you will get in the land the LORD your God is giving you to own. ¹⁵One witness is not enough to prove that a man did any wrong or sin. It does not matter what he did. A matter must be proven by two or three witnesses. ¹⁶A witness may lie about someone and accuse him of a crime. ¹⁷Then both people in the argument must stand in the presence of the LORD. They must stand before the priests and judges who are serving at that time. ¹⁸The judges must look into it carefully. The witness may be proven to be a liar. He may have told lies about his brother. ¹⁹If so, do to him what he planned to do to his brother. So you must get rid of the evil among you. ²⁰Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid. They will never again do such an evil thing among you. ²¹Show no pity. It must be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth. It must be a hand for a hand and a foot for a foot.