| New American Standard Bible 1995 | English Standard Version |
| 1"When the LORD your God cuts off the nations, whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, | 1“When the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, |
| 2you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess. | 2you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. |
| 3"You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the LORD your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there. | 3You shall measure the distances and divide into three parts the area of the land that the LORD your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them. |
| 4"Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously-- | 4“This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor unintentionally without having hated him in the past— |
| 5as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies-- he may flee to one of these cities and live; | 5as when someone goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down a tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live, |
| 6otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. | 6lest the avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. |
| 7"Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside three cities for yourself.' | 7Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. |
| 8"If the LORD your God enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He promised to give your fathers-- | 8And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— |
| 9if you carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in His ways always-- then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three. | 9provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the LORD your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three, |
| 10"So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, and bloodguiltiness be on you. | 10lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the LORD your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you. |
| 11"But if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, | 11“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, |
| 12then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. | 12then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. |
| 13"You shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you. | 13Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may be well with you. |
| 14"You shall not move your neighbor's boundary mark, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess. | 14“You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in the inheritance that you will hold in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. |
| 15"A single witness shall not rise up against a man on account of any iniquity or any sin which he has committed; on the evidence of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. | 15“A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established. |
| 16"If a malicious witness rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, | 16If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, |
| 17then both the men who have the dispute shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. | 17then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the LORD, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. |
| 18"The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, | 18The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, |
| 19then you shall do to him just as he had intended to do to his brother. Thus you shall purge the evil from among you. | 19then you shall do to him as he had meant to do to his brother. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. |
| 20"The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. | 20And the rest shall hear and fear, and shall never again commit any such evil among you. |
| 21"Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. | 21Your eye shall not pity. It shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. |
| New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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