The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
New Living Translation NLT
1 "When ADONAI your God cuts off the nations whose land ADONAI your God is giving you, and you take their place and settle in their cities and houses,
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“When the LORD your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes.
2 you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in your land that ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.
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Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
3 Divide the territory of your land, which ADONAI your God is having you inherit, into three parts; and prepare the roads, so that any killer can flee to these cities.
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Survey the territory, and divide the land the LORD your God is giving you into three districts, with one of these cities in each district. Then anyone who has killed someone can flee to one of the cities of refuge for safety.
4 The killer who will live if he flees there is someone who has killed his fellow member of the community by mistake, who did not hate him in the past.
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“If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety.
5 An example would be if a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood and takes a stroke with the axe to fell a tree, but the head of the axe flies off the handle, hits his neighbor and kills him. Then he is to flee to one of these cities and live there.
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For example, suppose someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to cut wood. And suppose one of them swings an ax to chop down a tree, and the ax head flies off the handle, killing the other person. In such cases, the slayer may flee to one of the cities of refuge to live in safety.
6 Otherwise the next-of-kin avenger, in the heat of his anger, may pursue the killer, overtake him because the distance [to the city of refuge] is long, and strike him dead - even though he didn't deserve to die, inasmuch as he hadn't hated him in the past.
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“If the distance to the nearest city of refuge is too far, an enraged avenger might be able to chase down and kill the person who caused the death. Then the slayer would die unfairly, since he had never shown hostility toward the person who died.
7 This is why I am ordering you to set aside for yourselves three cities.
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That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
8 "If ADONAI your God expands your territory, as he swore to your ancestors that he would, and gives you all the land he promised to give to your ancestors -
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“And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised them,
9 provided you keep and observe all these mitzvot I am giving you today, loving ADONAI your God and always following his ways - then you are to add three more cities for yourselves, besides these three;
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you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the LORD your God and walk in his ways.)
10 so that innocent blood will not be shed in the land ADONAI your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus blood guilt be on you.
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That way you will prevent the death of innocent people in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession. You will not be held responsible for the death of innocent people.
11 "However, if someone hates his fellow member of the community, lies in wait for him, attacks him, strikes him a death blow, and then flees into one of these cities;
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“But suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge.
12 then the leaders of his own town are to send and bring him back from there and hand him over to the next-of-kin avenger, to be put to death.
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In that case, the elders of the murderer’s hometown must send agents to the city of refuge to bring him back and hand him over to the dead person’s avenger to be put to death.
13 You are not to pity him. Rather, you must put an end to the shedding of innocent blood in Isra'el. Then things will go well with you.
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Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.
14 "You are not to move your neighbor's boundary marker from the place where people put it long ago, in the inheritance soon to be yours in the land ADONAI your God is giving you to possess.
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“When you arrive in the land the LORD your God is giving you as your special possession, you must never steal anyone’s land by moving the boundary markers your ancestors set up to mark their property.
15 "One witness alone will not be sufficient to convict a person of any offense or sin of any kind; the matter will be established only if there are two or three witnesses testifying against him.
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“You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness. The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 "If a malicious witness comes forward and gives false testimony against someone,
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“If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime,
17 then both the men involved in the controversy are to stand before ADONAI, before the cohanim and the judges in office at the time.
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then both the accuser and accused must appear before the LORD by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time.
18 The judges are to investigate carefully. If they find that the witness is lying and has given false testimony against his brother,
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The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite,
19 you are to do to him what he intended to do to his brother. In this way, you will put an end to such wickedness among you.
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you must impose on the accuser the sentence he intended for the other person. In this way, you will purge such evil from among you.
20 Those who remain will hear about it, be afraid and no longer commit such wickedness among you.
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Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing.
21 Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
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You must show no pity for the guilty! Your rule should be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.