The cities of refuge

1After Yahweh our God has gotten rid of the people-groups from the land that he is giving to you, and after you have expelled them from their cities and you start to live in their houses,

2you must divide into three parts the land that he is giving to you. Then choose a city in each part. You must make good roads in order that people can get to those cities easily. Someone who kills another person can escape to one of those cities to be safe/protected.

4“This is the rule about someone who has killed another person. If someone ◄accidentally/without planning to► kills another person who was not his enemy, he may escape to one of those cities and be safe/protected there.

5For example, if two men go into the forest to cut some wood, if the axe head comes off the handle while one of them is chopping down a tree and the axe head strikes and kills the other man, the man who was using the axe will be allowed to run to one of those cities and be safe there, because the people of that city will protect him.

6Because he accidentally killed someone, and because the man was not his enemy, he can try to run to one of those cities. If there were only one city, it may be a long distance to that city. Then if the relative of the man who was killed [MTY], the man who is supposed/expected to get revenge, is very angry, he may be able to catch the other person before he arrives at that city.

7To prevent that from happening, you must choose three cities, not only one, in order that someone can get to one of those cities quickly.

8“If you do everything that I am today commanding you to do, and if you love Yahweh our God, and if you conduct your lives as he wants you to do, Yahweh our God will give you much more land than you will have when you first occupy it, which is what he promised to do. He will give you all the land which he promised your ancestors that he would give to you. When he gives you that land, you must select three more cities to which people may escape.

10Do this in order that people who ◄are innocent/have killed someone else without planning to► will not die, and you will not be guilty for allowing them to be executed, in the land that Yahweh is giving to you.

11“But suppose someone hates his enemy and hides and waits for that person to come along the road. Then when he passes by, suddenly he attacks him and murders him. If the attacker flees to one of those cities to be protected there,

12the elders of the city where the murdered man lived must not protect the attacker. They. must send someone to the city to which the other man escaped, and bring him to [MTY] the relative who is supposed/expected to get revenge, so that he may execute that man.

13You must not pity those who murder other people! Instead, you must execute them, in order that the people in the land of Israel will not murder [MTY] innocent people, and in order that things will go well for you.”

Warning against moving boundaries

14“When you are living in the land that Yahweh our God is giving to you, do not move the markers of your neighbors’ property boundaries which were placed there long ago.”

Warnings about witnesses

15“If someone is accused of committing a crime, one ◄witness/person who says, ‘I saw him do it’► is not enough. There must be at least two ◄witnesses/people who say, ‘We saw him do it’►. If there is only one witness, the judge must not believe that what he says is true.

16“If someone tries to do wrong to another person by falsely accusing him,

17both of them must go to the place where the people worship, to talk to the priests and judges who are serving at that time.

18The judges must ◄investigate the case carefully/try to find out which one is telling the truth►. If the judges determine that one of them has accused the other falsely,

19that person must be punished in the same way that the other one would have been punished if the judge decided that he ◄was guilty/had done what is wrong►. By punishing such people, you will get rid of this evil practice among you.

20And/Because when that person is punished, everyone will hear what has happened, and they will be afraid, and no one will dare to act that way any more.

21You must not pity people who are punished like that. The rule should be that a person who has murdered someone else must be executed; one of a person’s eyes must be gouged out if he has gouged out someone else’s eye, one tooth of a person who has knocked out the tooth of another person must be knocked out; one hand of a person who has cut off the hand of another person must likewise be cut off; one foot of a person who has cut off the foot of another person must also be cut off.”