Deuteronomy 19-21

21st Century King James Version

19 “When the Lord thy God hath cut off the nations whose land the Lord thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them and dwellest in their cities and in their houses,

² thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

³ Thou shalt prepare thee a way, and divide the borders of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither.

⁴ “And this is the case of the slayer who shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbor ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past—

⁵ as when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he die — he shall flee unto one of those cities and live,

⁶ lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.

⁷ Therefore I command thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.’

⁸ And if the Lord thy God enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give thee all the land which He promised to give unto thy fathers,

⁹ if thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day — to love the Lord thy God and to walk ever in His ways — then shalt thou add three cities more for thee besides these three,

¹⁰ that innocent blood be not shed in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.

¹¹ “But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him and smite him mortally, so that he die, and he fleeth into one of these cities,

¹² then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.

¹³ Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.

¹⁴ “Thou shalt not remove thy neighbor’s landmark, which they of old time have set in thine inheritance, which thou shalt inherit in the land that the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

¹⁵ “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth. By the mouth of two witnesses or by the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established.

¹⁶ If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong,

¹⁷ then both the men involved in the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days;

¹⁸ and the judges shall make diligent inquisition. And behold, if the witness be a false witness and hath testified falsely against his brother,

¹⁹ then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.

²⁰ And those who remain shall hear and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you.

²¹ And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

20 “When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them; for the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

² And it shall be, when ye have come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people,

³ and shall say unto them, ‘Hear, O Israel: Ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint; fear not and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;

⁵ And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying, ‘What man is there who hath built a new house and hath not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.

⁶ And what man is he that hath planted a vineyard and hath not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle and another man eat of it.

⁷ And what man is there who hath betrothed a wife and hath not taken her? Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’

⁸ And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, ‘What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren’s heart faint as well as his heart.’

⁹ And it shall be, when the officers have made an end of speaking unto the people, that they shall make captains of the armies to lead the people.

¹⁰ “When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, then proclaim peace unto it.

¹¹ And it shall be, if it make thee an answer of peace and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people who are found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee.

¹² And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt besiege it.

¹³ And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thine hands, thou shalt smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword.

¹⁴ But the women and the little ones, and the cattle and all that is in the city, even all the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself; and thou shalt eat the spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee.

¹⁵ Thus shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of the cities of these nations.

¹⁶ But of the cities of these people which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth,

¹⁷ but thou shalt utterly destroy them, namely: the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee,

¹⁸ that they teach you not to do according to all their abominations which they have done unto their gods, so ye should sin against the Lord your God.

¹⁹ “When thou shalt besiege a city a long time, in making war against it to take it, thou shalt not destroy the trees thereof by forcing an ax against them, for thou mayest eat of them; and thou shalt not cut them down to employ them in the seige, for the tree of the field is man’s life.

²⁰ Only the trees which thou knowest are not trees for meat, thou shalt destroy and cut them down; and thou shalt build bulwarks against the city that maketh war with thee, until it be subdued.

21 “If one be found slain in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him,

² then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure the distance unto the cities which are round about him that is slain.

³ And it shall be that the city which is next unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which hath not been worked and which hath not drawn in the yoke;

⁴ and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which is neither eared nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer’s neck there in the valley.

⁵ And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried.

⁶ And all the elders of that city who are next unto the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley.

⁷ And they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.

⁸ Be merciful, O Lord, unto Thy people Israel, whom Thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto Thy people of Israel’s charge.’ And the blood shall be forgiven them.

⁹ So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord.

¹⁰ “When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands and thou hast taken them captive,

¹¹ and seest among the captives a beautiful woman and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her for thy wife,

¹² then thou shalt bring her home to thine house. And she shall shave her head and pare her nails;

¹³ and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house and bewail her father and her mother a full month. And after that thou shalt go in unto her and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife.

¹⁴ And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will, but thou shalt not sell her at all for money; thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

¹⁵ “If a man have two wives, one beloved and another hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated, and if the firstborn son be hers that was hated,

¹⁶ then it shall be, when he maketh his sons to inherit that which he hath, that he may not make the son of the beloved firstborn before the son of the hated, who is indeed the firstborn.

¹⁷ But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated as the firstborn by giving him a double portion of all that he hath, for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the firstborn is his.

¹⁸ “If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them,

¹⁹ then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city and unto the gate of his place.

²⁰ And they shall say unto the elders of his city, ‘This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’

²¹ And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, so that he die. So shalt thou put evil away from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear.

²² “And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he is to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree,

²³ his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day (for he that is hanged is accursed of God), that thy land be not defiled which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.