Chapter 19
Cities of Refuge. 1 When the Lord, your God, has destroyed the nations whose land he is giving you, when you have driven them out and you are dwelling in their cities and houses, 2 [a]then set aside three cities in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you to possess. 3 Build roads to them, and divide the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance into three parts so that anyone who has killed another can flee to them. 4 This is the regulation concerning the one who has killed another and flees there to save his life: one who kills his neighbor unintentionally, who did not previously bear him ill will, 5 for example, when a man goes into the woods with his neighbor to cut wood, and as he is swinging the ax to cut down a tree, and the head of the ax flies off and kills the neighbor. That man may flee to one of the cities to save his life. 6 Otherwise, the relative who seeks blood vengeance might seek him out while he is still blind with rage, and if the distance be too great he would then be able to catch up with him and kill him even though he did not really deserve to die since he did not bear the man any previous ill will.[b] 7 This is why I command you to set aside three cities for yourselves.
8 If the Lord, your God, adds to your territory, as he promised to do to your ancestors, and he gives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers, 9 for you have carefully observed all the commandments that I have given you today, to love the Lord, your God, and always walk in his ways, then you will set aside another three cities beside the first three. 10 Do this so that innocent blood not be shed in the land that the Lord, your God, is giving you as an inheritance. Thus, you will not be guilty of bloodshed. 11 But if a man bears ill will toward his neighbor and lies in wait for him, and jumps out at him and grievously wounds him so that he dies, and then he flees to one of these cities, 12 the elders of his town will send after him, bring him back, and hand him over to the relative who seeks blood vengeance so that he might be put to death. 13 Show him no pity. You must purge the guilt of shedding innocent blood from your midst so that things may go well with you.
14 Removing Landmarks. Do not move your neighbor’s boundary stone that was set up long ago to mark your inheritance in the land that the Lord, your God, has given you to possess.
15 Witnesses. One witness is not enough to convict someone of any crime or any offense that he might have committed. The matter is to be decided by the testimony of two or three witnesses. 16 If a false witness arises to accuse another of a crime, 17 the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of the Lord before the priests and judges who are fulfilling their term. 18 The judges must make a thorough investigation. If a witness proves to be a liar, having falsely testified against another, 19 then whatever would have been done to the other is to be done to him. You must purge this evil from your midst. 20 The rest of the people will hear of this and be filled with fear and no one will ever do such an evil thing in your midst again. 21 Show no pity: a life for a life,[c] an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, and a foot for a foot.
Footnotes
- Deuteronomy 19:2 As described in Num 35:7-34 six cities of refuge were to be designated for those guilty of the accidental death of another person. In this section, Moses speaks specifically about the three cities to be built in Canaan, west of the Jordan.
- Deuteronomy 19:6 The victim’s closest relative is the one appointed to kill the murderer (Hebrew, goel: see Num 35:12).
- Deuteronomy 19:21 A life for a life: although the law of retribution is extreme, the law was meant to avoid injustice and to ensure a penalty equal to the crime.