| New American Standard Bible 1995 | New Living Translation |
| 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 destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. |
| 2you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess. | 2Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the LORD your God is giving you. |
| 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. | 3Survey 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"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“If someone kills another person unintentionally, without previous hostility, the slayer may flee to any of these cities to live in safety. |
| 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; | 5For 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. |
| 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. | 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"Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside three cities for yourself.' | 7That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge. |
| 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-- | 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, |
| 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. | 9you 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 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. | 10That 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 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 suppose someone is hostile toward a neighbor and deliberately ambushes and murders him and then flees to one of the cities of refuge. |
| 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. | 12In 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 shall not pity him, but you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you. | 13Do 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"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“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"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“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 rises up against a man to accuse him of wrongdoing, | 16“If a malicious witness comes forward and accuses someone of a crime, |
| 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 the accuser and accused must appear before the LORD by coming to the priests and judges in office at that time. |
| 18"The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has accused his brother falsely, | 18The judges must investigate the case thoroughly. If the accuser has brought false charges against his fellow Israelite, |
| 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. | 19you 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"The rest will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. | 20Then the rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid to do such an evil thing. |
| 21"Thus you shall not show pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. | 21You 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. |
| 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 | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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