1 When the Lord thy God shall roote out the nations, whose lande the Lord thy God giueth thee, and thou shalt possesse them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses, 2 Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the middes of thy lande which the Lord thy God giueth thee to possesse it. 3 Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and deuide the coastes of the land, which the Lord thy God giueth thee to inherite, into three parts, that euery manslayer may flee thither. 4 This also is ye cause wherfore the manslayer shall flee thither, and liue: who so killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and hated him not in time passed: 5 As hee that goeth vnto the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand striketh with the axe to cut downe the tree, if the head slip from the helue, and hit his neighbour that he dieth, the same shall flee vnto one of the cities, and liue, 6 Least the auenger of the blood follow after the manslayer, while his heart is chafed, and ouertake him, because the way is long, and slaie him, although he be not worthy of death, because he hated him not in time passed. 7 Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt appoint out three cities for thee. 8 And when the Lord thy God enlargeth thy coastes (as he hath sworne vnto thy fathers) and giueth thee all the lande which he promised to giue vnto thy fathers, 9 (If thou keepe all these commandements to doe them, which I commaund thee this day: to wit, that thou loue the Lord thy God, and walke in his waies for euer) then shalt thou adde three cities moe for thee besides those three, 10 That innocent bloude be not shed within thy land, which the Lord thy God giueth thee to inherite, lest bloud be vpon thee. 11 But if a man hate his neighbour, and lay waite for him, and rise against him, and smite any man that he die, and flee vnto any of these cities, 12 Then the Elders of his citie shall send and set him thence, and deliuer him into the hands of the auenger of the blood, that he may die. 13 Thine eye shall not spare him, but thou shalt put away the crie of innocent blood from Israel, that it may goe well with thee. 14 Thou shalt not remooue thy neighbours marke, which they of olde time haue set in thine inheritance, that thou shalt inherite in the lande, which ye Lord thy God giueth thee to possesse it. 15 One witnes shall not rise against a man for any trespasse, or for any sinne, or for any fault that hee offendeth in, but at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be stablished. 16 If a false witnesse rise vp against a man to accuse him of trespasse, 17 Then both the men which striue together, shall stand before ye Lord, euen before the Priests and the Iudges, which shall be in those daies, 18 And the Iudges shall make diligent inquisition: and if the witnesse be found false, and hath giuen false witnes against his brother, 19 Then shall yee doe vnto him as hee had thought to doe vnto his brother: so thou shalt take euil away forth of the middes of thee. 20 And the rest shall heare this, and feare, and shall henceforth commit no more any such wickednes among you. 21 Therefore thine eye shall have no compassion, but life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foote for foote.
Safe Towns
(Numbers 35.9-28Joshua 20.1-9)Moses said to Israel:
1 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 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 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 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.