4
"And this is the case of the slayer who shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past--
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as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he die -- he shall flee unto one of those cities and live,
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lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
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Therefore I command thee, saying, `Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.'
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And if the LORD thy God enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which He promised to give unto thy fathers,
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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,
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that innocent blood be not shed in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
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"But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him and smite him mortally, so that he die, and he fleeth into one of these cities,
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then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.
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Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
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"Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor's landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.