Deuteronomy 19; Deuteronomy 20; Deuteronomy 21; Mark 13:21-37

1 The LORD your God will destroy all the nations that are living in the land that he's giving you. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses.

2 When all this is done, set aside three cities in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

3 Provide a route to each of these cities and divide the land that the LORD your God is giving you into three regions. Whoever kills someone may run to one of these cities.

4 A person who unintentionally kills someone he never hated in the past may run to one of these cities to save his life.

5 Suppose two people go into the woods to cut wood. As one of them swings the ax to cut down a tree, the head flies off the handle, hits, and kills the other person. The one who accidentally killed the other person may run to one of these cities and save his life.

6 Otherwise, in a rage the relative who has the authority to avenge the death will pursue him. If the place is too far away, the relative may catch up with him and take his life even though he didn't deserve the death penalty, because in the past he never hated the person he killed.

7 This is why I'm commanding you to set aside three cities for yourselves.

8 The LORD your God may expand your country's borders as he promised your ancestors with an oath. He may give you the whole land he promised to give them.

9 He may do this because you faithfully obey all these commands I am now giving you--to love the LORD your God and follow his directions as long as you live. If this happens, you may add three more cities of refuge to these three.

10 That way, innocent people won't be killed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you won't be guilty of murder.

11 Suppose someone hates another person, waits in ambush for him, attacks him, takes his life, and runs to one of these cities.

12 If someone does this, the leaders of your city must send for that person. They must take him from that city and hand him over to the relative who has the authority to avenge the death. He must die.

13 They must have no pity on him. The guilt of murdering an innocent person must be removed from Israel. Then things will go well for Israel.

14 Never move your neighbor's original boundary marker on any property in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

15 One witness is never enough to convict someone of a crime, offense, or sin he may have committed. Cases must be settled based on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

16 This is what you must do whenever a witness takes the stand to accuse a person falsely of a crime.

17 The two people involved must stand in the LORD's presence, in front of the priests and judges who are serving at that time.

18 The judges must make a thorough investigation. If it is found that the witness lied when he testified against the other Israelite,

19 then do to him what he planned to do to the other person. You must get rid of this evil.

20 When the rest of the people hear about this, they will be afraid. Never again will such an evil thing be done among you.

21 Have no pity on him: [Take] a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot.

1 When you go to war against your enemies, you may see horses, chariots, and armies larger than yours. Don't be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, will be with you.

2 Before the battle starts, a priest must come and speak to the troops.

3 He should tell them, "Listen, Israel, today you're going into battle against your enemies. Don't lose your courage! Don't be afraid or alarmed or tremble because of them.

4 The LORD your God is going with you. He will fight for you against your enemies and give you victory."

5 The officers should tell the troops, "If you have built a new house but not dedicated it, you may go home. Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else will dedicate it.

6 If you have planted a vineyard and not enjoyed the grapes, you may go home. Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else will enjoy the grapes.

7 If you are engaged to a woman but have not married her, you may go home. Otherwise, you might die in battle, and someone else will marry her."

8 The officers should also tell the troops, "If you are afraid or have lost your courage, you may go home. Then you won't ruin the morale of the other Israelites."

9 When the officers finish speaking to the troops, they should appoint commanders to lead them.

10 When you approach a city to attack it, offer its people a peaceful way to surrender.

11 If they accept it and open [their gates] to you, then all the people there will be made to do forced labor and serve you.

12 If they won't accept your offer of peace but declare war on you, set up a blockade around the city.

13 When the LORD your God hands the city over to you, kill every man in that city with your swords.

14 But take the women and children, the cattle and everything else in the city, including all its goods, as your loot. You may enjoy your enemies' goods that the LORD your God has given you.

15 This is what you must do to all the cities that are far away which don't belong to the nations nearby.

16 However, you must not spare anyone's life in the cities of these nations that the LORD your God is giving you as your property.

17 You must claim the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites for the LORD and completely destroy them, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

18 Otherwise, they will teach you to do all the disgusting things they do for their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.

19 This is what you must do whenever you blockade a city for a long time in order to capture it in war. Don't harm any of its fruit trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit. Never cut those trees down, because the trees of the field are not people you have come to blockade.

20 You may destroy trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may cut them down and use them in your blockade until you capture the city.

1 This is what you must do if you find a murder victim lying in a field in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. If no one knows who committed the murder,

2 your leaders and judges must go and measure the distance from the body to each of the neighboring cities.

3 When it has been determined which city is nearest the body, the leaders from that city must choose a heifer that has never been put to work and never worn a yoke.

4 The leaders of that city will bring the heifer down to a river, to a location where the land hasn't been plowed or planted. At the river they must break the heifer's neck.

5 The priests, the descendants of Levi, must come forward. The LORD your God has chosen them to serve him as priests and to bless people in the LORD's name. Their decision is final in all cases involving a disagreement or an assault.

6 All the leaders from the city which was nearest the murder victim must wash their hands over the dead heifer.

7 Then they must make this formal statement: "We didn't commit this murder, and we didn't witness it.

8 LORD, make peace with your people Israel, whom you freed. Don't let the guilt of this unsolved murder remain among your people Israel." Then there will be peace with the LORD despite the murder.

9 This is how you will get rid of the guilt of an unsolved murder by doing what the LORD considers right.

10 When you go to war with your enemies and the LORD your God hands them over to you, you may take them captive.

11 If you see a beautiful woman among the captives and have your heart set on her, you may marry her.

12 Bring her into your home. She must shave her head, cut her nails,

13 and no longer wear the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. Then she may live in your house and mourn [the loss of] her father and mother for one month. After that, you may sleep with her. Then you will become husband and wife.

14 But if it happens that you are no longer pleased with her, let her go wherever she wants. You must never sell her or mistreat her as if she were a slave, since you've already had sex with her.

15 A man might have two wives and love one but not the other. Both wives might have children, and the firstborn son might belong to the wife that the man doesn't love.

16 When the day comes for the father to give his sons their inheritance, he can't treat the son of the wife he loves as if that son were the firstborn. This would show a total disregard for the real firstborn (the son of the wife he doesn't love).

17 Instead, he must recognize the son of the wife he doesn't love as the firstborn. He must give that son a double portion of whatever he owns. That son is the very first son he had. The rights of the firstborn son are his.

18 Parents might have a stubborn and rebellious son who doesn't obey them. Even though they punish him, he still won't listen to them.

19 His father and mother must take him to the leaders of the city at the city gate.

20 They will say to the leaders of the city, "This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He won't obey us. He eats too much and is a drunk."

21 All the men of the city should stone him to death. You must get rid of this evil. When all Israel hears about it, they will be afraid.

22 When a convicted person is put to death,

23 never leave his dead body hung on a pole overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone whose body is hung on a pole is cursed by God. The land that the LORD your God is giving you must never become unclean.

21 "At that time don't believe anyone who tells you, 'Here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!'

22 False messiahs and false prophets will appear. They will work miraculous signs and do wonderful things to deceive, if possible, those whom God has chosen.

23 Be on your guard! I have told you everything before it happens.

24 "Now, after the misery of those days, the sun will turn dark, the moon will not give light,

25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the universe will be shaken.

26 "Then people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.

27 He will send out his angels, and from every direction under the sky, they will gather those whom God has chosen.

28 "Learn from the story of the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and it sprouts leaves, you know summer is near.

29 In the same way, when you see these things happen, you know that he is near, at the door.

30 "I can guarantee this truth: This generation will not disappear until all these things take place.

31 The earth and the heavens will disappear, but my words will never disappear.

32 "No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don't know. Only the Father knows.

33 Be careful! Watch! You don't know the exact time.

34 It is like a man who went on a trip. As he left home, he put his servants in charge. He assigned work to each one and ordered the guard to be alert.

35 Therefore, be alert, because you don't know when the owner of the house will return. It could be in the evening or at midnight or at dawn or in the morning.

36 Make sure he doesn't come suddenly and find you asleep.

37 I'm telling everyone what I'm telling you: 'Be alert!'"