Cities of Refuge

19 “When the Lord your God destroys those nations whose lands he^[a] is about to give you, you must dispossess them and live in their cities and houses. ² You must reserve^[b] three cities within the land that the Lord your God is about to give you to possess. ³ Build roads throughout the land that the Lord your God is providing as an inheritance, and then divide it into three districts so that any killer may flee there.

⁴ “Now this is the situation for any killer who flees there to live: suppose he strikes his friend unwittingly, not having hated him previously. ⁵ For instance,^[c] he may have accompanied his friend to go to a forest to cut trees. Then he swung his axe to cut some wood, but the ax head flew off the handle^[d] and hit^[e] his friend, so that he died. The killer^[f] may flee to one of these cities to live. ⁶ Since the distance may be great, the angry avenger may overtake the killer he is pursuing and kill him, in which case there will be no justice in his death, because he did not hate his friend^[g] previously. ⁷ Therefore I am commanding you to reserve^[h] three cities.”

Increase the Cities of Refuge

⁸ “Now if the Lord enlarges your territories just as he promised your ancestors and gives you all the land that he promised,^{[i] 9} and if you are careful to observe all these commands that I am commanding you today—to love the Lord your God and to walk daily in his ways—then add three more cities in addition to these three cities. ¹⁰ You must not shed innocent blood on your land that the Lord your God is about to give you as an inheritance. Otherwise, you’ll be guilty of murder.”

Refuse Cold-Blooded Murderers

¹¹ “However, if a person hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises up against him, and attacks him so that he dies, and then he flees to one of those cities, ¹² then the elders of his own city are to send for him, remove him from there, and deliver him to the related avenger for execution. ¹³ Have no pity on him, but totally purge the shedding of innocent blood from Israel so that life may go well with you.”

Boundary Markers

¹⁴ “When you inherit the land that the Lord your God is about to give you, don’t move your neighbor’s boundary marker from where it was placed long ago.”

Laws about Witnesses

¹⁵ “The testimony of one person alone is not to suffice to convict anyone of any iniquity, sin, or guilt. But the matter will stand on the testimony of two or three witnesses. ¹⁶ When a malicious witness takes the stand^[j] against a man and accuses him, ¹⁷ then both must stand with their dispute in the Lord’s presence, the priests, and the judges at that time. ¹⁸ The judges will investigate thoroughly. If the false witness lies in testifying against his relative, ¹⁹ do to him just as he intended to do to his relative. By doing this you will purge evil from your midst. ²⁰ When others hear of this, they will be afraid and will not do such an evil deed again in your midst. ²¹ Your eyes must not show pity—life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.”

The Vision of the New Heaven and the New Earth

21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had disappeared, and the sea was gone. ² I also saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

³ I heard a loud voice from the throne say,

⁵ The one sitting on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new!”

He said, “Write this: ‘These words are trustworthy and true.’”

⁶ Then he told me, “It has happened! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will freely give a drink from the spring of the water of life to the one who is thirsty. ⁷ The person who overcomes^[b] will inherit these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. ⁸ But people who are cowardly, unfaithful, detestable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will find themselves^[c] in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

The Vision of the New Jerusalem

⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came to me and said, “Come! I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.” ¹⁰ He carried me away in the Spirit to a large, high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven. ¹¹ The glory of God was its radiance, and its light was like a valuable gem, like jasper, as clear as crystal. ¹² It had a large, high wall with twelve gates. Twelve angels were at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three gates on the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the lamb were written on them.

¹⁵ The angel who^[d] was talking to me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was cubic in shape: its length was the same as its width. He measured the city with his rod, and it measured at 12,000 stadia:^[e]Its length, width, and height were the same. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall. According to the human measurement that the angel was using, it was 144 cubits.^{[f] 18} Its wall was made of jasper. The city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.

¹⁹ The foundations of the city wall were decorated with all kinds of gems: The first foundation^[g] was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian,^[h] the seventh chrysolite,^[i] the eighth beryl,^[j] the ninth topaz,^[k] the tenth chrysoprase,^[l] the eleventh jacinth^[m] and the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, and each gate was made of a single pearl. The street of the city was made of pure gold, as clear as glass.

²² I saw no temple in it, because the Lord God Almighty and the lamb are its temple. ²³ The city doesn’t need any sun or moon to give it light, because the glory of God gave it light, and the lamb was its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ Its gates will never be shut at the end of the^[n] day—because there will be no night there. ²⁶ People^[o] will bring the glory and wealth^[p] of the nations into it. ²⁷ Nothing unclean, or anyone who does anything detestable, and no one who tells lies will ever enter it. Only those whose names^[q] are written in the lamb’s Book of Life will enter it.^[r]