Deuteronomy 19:1

Cities to Go to for Safety

1 The LORD your God will destroy the nations whose land he is giving you. You will drive them out. And you will settle down in their towns and houses.

Deuteronomy 19:1 Meaning and Commentary

Deuteronomy 19:1

When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the
Lord thy God giveth thee
The seven nations of the land of Canaan, whose destruction was of the Lord for their sins, and whose land was a gift of him that had a right to dispose of it to the children of Israel; see ( Deuteronomy 12:29 )

and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their
houses;
should possess their land in their stead, by virtue of the gift of it to them by the Lord, and inhabit their cities and houses built by them.

Deuteronomy 19:1 In-Context

1 The LORD your God will destroy the nations whose land he is giving you. You will drive them out. And you will settle down in their towns and houses.

2 When you do, set apart for yourselves three cities in the land. It's the land the LORD your God is giving you to take as your own.

3 Build roads to those cities and separate the land into three parts. Then anyone who kills another person can run to one of the cities for safety. They are in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your own.

4 Here is the rule about a person who kills someone. That person can run to one of those cities for safety. The rule applies to all those who kill a neighbor they didn't hate and didn't mean to kill.

5 For example, suppose a man goes into a forest with his neighbor to cut wood. When he swings his ax to chop down a tree, the head of the ax flies off. And it hits his neighbor and kills him. Then that man can run to one of those cities and save his life.