Deuteronomy 19

Chapter 19

Cities of Refuge

1 “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 Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the LORD your God is giving you.

3 Survey the territory,t 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 “If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety.

5 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 “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 That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.
8 “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 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 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 “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 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 Do not feel sorry for that murderer! Purge from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people; then all will go well with you.

Concern for Justice

14 “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 “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 accuses someone of a crime,17 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 must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite,19 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 Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing.

21 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.

DEUTERONOMY 19

Safe Towns

(Numbers 35.9-28; Joshua 20.1-9)

Moses said to Israel:

1  t Soon you will go into the land and attack the nations. The [Lord] your God will destroy them and give you their lands, towns, and homes. Then after you are settled,

2-4 you must choose three of your towns to be Safe Towns. Divide the land into three regions with one Safe Town near the middle of each, so that a Safe Town can be easily reached from anywhere in your land.
Then, if one of you accidentally kills someone, you can run to a Safe Town and find protection from being put to death. But you must not have been angry with the person you killed.
5 For example, suppose you and a friend go into the forest to cut wood. You are chopping down a tree with an ax, when the ax head slips off the handle, hits your friend, and kills him. You can run to one of the Safe Towns and save your life. 6 You don't deserve to die, since you did not mean to harm your friend. But he did get killed, and his relatives might be very angry. They might even choose one of the men from their family to track you down and kill you. If it is too far to one of the Safe Towns, the victim's relative might be able to catch you and kill you.

7 That's why I said there must be three Safe Towns.
8-9 Israel, the [Lord] your God has promised that if you obey his laws and teachings I'm giving you, and if you always love him, then he will give you the land he promised your ancestors. When that happens, you must name three more Safe Towns in the new territory.

10 You will need them, so innocent people won't be killed on your land while they are trying to reach a Safe Town that is too far away. You will be guilty of murder, if innocent people lose their lives because you didn't name enough Safe Towns in the land the [Lord] your God will give you.
11 But what if you really do commit murder? Suppose one of you hates a neighbor. So you wait in a deserted place, kill the neighbor, and run to a Safe Town.

12 If that happens, the leaders of your town must send messengers to bring you back from the Safe Town. They will hand you over to one of the victim's relatives, who will put you to death.

13 Israel, for the good of the whole country, you must kill anyone who murders an innocent person. Never show mercy to a murderer!

Property Lines

Moses said to Israel:

14  t In the land the [Lord] is giving you, there are already stones set up to mark the property lines between fields. So don't move those stones.

Witnesses //Must Tell the Truth

Moses said to Israel:

15  t Before you are convicted of a crime, at least two witnesses must be able to testify that you did it.
16 If you accuse someone of a crime, but seem to be lying,

17-18 then both you and the accused must be taken to the court at the place where the [Lord] is worshiped. There the priests and judges will find out if you are lying or telling the truth.
If you are lying and the accused is innocent,

19-21 t then you will be punished without mercy. You will receive the same punishment the accused would have received if found guilty, whether it means losing an eye, a tooth, a hand, a foot, or even your life.
Israel, the crime of telling lies in court must be punished. And when people hear what happens to witnesses that lie, everyone else who testifies in court will tell the truth.