Old/New Testament
Cities of Safety
19 The Lord your God is giving you land that belongs to other nations. He will destroy those nations. You will force them out and live in their cities and houses. 2 Then choose three cities. They must be in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. 3 Build roads to those cities. And divide the land the Lord is giving you into three parts. Then someone who kills another person may run to these cities.
4 This is the rule for someone who kills another person. He may run to one of these cities to save his life. But he must have killed his neighbor without meaning to kill him. He did not hate his neighbor. 5 A man might go into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood. The man swings his ax to cut down a tree. But the ax head flies off the handle. It hits his neighbor and kills him. The man who killed him may run to one of these cities to save his life. 6 Otherwise, the dead man’s relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer might be angry and chase him. And the relative might catch him if the city is far away. The relative might kill the man. But the man should not be killed because he did not mean to kill his neighbor. 7 This is why I command you to choose these three cities.
8-9 Carefully obey all these laws I’m giving you today. Love the Lord your God. Always do what he wants you to do. Then the Lord your God will enlarge your land as he promised your ancestors. He will give you the whole land he promised to them. After that, choose three more cities of safety. 10 This is so that innocent people will not be killed in your land. The Lord your God is giving it to you to own. By doing this you will not be guilty of murder.
11 But a person might hate his neighbor. And he might hide and wait for him. He might attack and kill him and then run to one of these cities for safety. 12 The elders of his own city should send for him. They should bring him back from the city of safety. And they should hand him over to the relative who has the duty of punishing the murderer. 13 Give him no mercy. You must remove from Israel the guilt of murdering innocent people. Then things will go well for you.
14 Do not move the stone that marks the border of your neighbor’s land. People long ago set them in place. They mark what you inherit in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.
Rules About Witnesses
15 One witness is not enough to accuse a man of a crime or sin. A case must be proved by two or three witnesses.
16 A witness might lie and accuse a person of a crime. 17 The two people who are arguing must stand before the Lord. They must stand before the priests and judges who are on duty. 18 The judges must check the matter carefully. The witness might be a liar. He might be lying about his fellow Israelite. 19 If so, he must be punished as he wanted his brother punished. You must get rid of the evil among you. 20 The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. No one among you will ever do such an evil thing again. 21 Give him no mercy. A life must be paid for a life. It must be an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.
Laws for War
20 When you go to war against your enemies, you might see horses and chariots. Their army might be bigger than yours. But don’t be afraid of them. The Lord your God will be with you. He brought you out of Egypt. 2 The priest must come and speak to the army before you go into battle. 3 He should say, “Listen, Israel! Today you are going into battle against your enemies. Don’t lose your courage or be afraid. Don’t panic or be frightened. 4 The Lord your God goes with you. He will fight for you against your enemies. And he will save you.”
5 The officers should say to the army, “Has anyone built a new house but not given it to God? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would get to give his house to God. 6 Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy it? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would enjoy his vineyard. 7 Is any man engaged to a woman and not yet married to her? He may go home. He might die in battle. Then someone else would marry her.” 8 Then the officers should also say, “Is anyone here afraid? Has anyone lost his courage? He may go home. Then he will not cause others to lose their courage, too.” 9 When the officers finish speaking to the army, they should appoint commanders to lead it.
10 You will march up to attack a city. First, make them an offer of peace. 11 They might accept your offer and open their gates to you. If that happens, all the people of that city will become your slaves. They will work for you. 12 But they might not make peace with you. They might fight you in battle. Then you should surround that city. 13 The Lord your God will give you the city. Then kill all the men with your swords. 14 You may take everything else in the city for yourselves. Take the women and children and animals. And you may use these things the Lord your God gives you from your enemies. 15 Do this to all the cities that are far away. They do not belong to the nations nearby.
16 But leave nothing alive in the cities of the land. This is the land the Lord your God is giving you. 17 Completely destroy these people: the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. The Lord your God has commanded you to do this. 18 Otherwise, they will teach you what they do for their gods. And if you do these terrible things, you will sin against the Lord your God.
19 You might surround and attack a city for a long time, trying to capture it. But do not destroy its trees with an ax. You can eat the fruit from the trees. Do not cut them down. These trees are not the enemy. So don’t make war against them. 20 But you may cut down trees that you know are not fruit trees. You may use them to build devices to attack the city walls. You may do this until the city is captured.
A Person Found Murdered
21 Someone might be found murdered. He might be lying in a field in the land the Lord your God is giving you to own. And no one knows who killed him. 2 Your elders and judges should go to where he was found. And they should measure how far it is to the nearby cities. 3 The elders of the city nearest the body are responsible. They must take a young cow that has never worked or worn a yoke. 4 And they must lead her down to a valley. It must never have been plowed or planted. It must have a stream flowing through it. There they must break the young cow’s neck. 5 The priests should come forward. They are the sons of Levi. They have been chosen by the Lord your God. They are to serve and give blessings in the Lord’s name. And they are to decide cases of quarreling and attacks. 6 Then all the elders of the city nearest the murdered man should wash their hands. They should do it over the young cow whose neck was broken in the valley. 7 They should declare: “We did not kill this man. And we did not see it happen. 8 Lord, remove this sin of your people Israel. You have saved them. Don’t blame your people, the Israelites, for this innocent man’s murder.” And so the murder will be paid for. 9 Then you will have removed from yourselves the guilt of murdering an innocent person. You will be doing what the Lord says is right.
Captive Women as Wives
10 You will go to war against your enemies. The Lord will help you defeat them. You will take them captive. 11 You might see a beautiful woman among the captives. And you might be attracted to her. You may take her as your wife. 12 Bring her into your home. She must shave her head and cut her nails. 13 She must change out of the clothes she was wearing when you captured her. And she must live in your house and cry for her parents for a month. After that, you may marry her. You will be her husband, and she will be your wife. 14 But you might not be pleased with her. Then let her go anywhere she wants. You must not sell her for money. You must not make her a slave. You have taken away her honor.
The Oldest Son
15 A man may have two wives. He might love one wife but not the other. Both wives might have sons by him. But the older son might be the son of the wife he does not love. 16 Someday that man must will his property to his sons. But he must not give the son of the wife he loves what belongs to the older son. The older son is the son of the wife the man does not love. 17 He must agree to give the older son two shares of everything he owns. The older son is from the wife he does not love. That son was the first to prove his father could have children. So he has the rights that belong to the older son.
Sons Who Refuse to Obey
18 A man might have a son who is stubborn. The son turns against his father and mother and doesn’t obey them. He will not listen when they correct him. 19 His parents must take him to the elders at the city gate. 20 They will say to the leaders, “Our son is stubborn and turns against us. He will not obey us. He eats too much. And he is always drunk.” 21 Then all the men in his town must throw stones at him until he dies. Get rid of the evil among you. All the people of Israel will hear about this and be afraid.
Other Laws
22 A man might be guilty of a sin worthy of death. He must be put to death and his body displayed on a tree. 23 But don’t leave his body hanging on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day. Anyone whose body is displayed on a tree is cursed by God. You must not ruin the land the Lord your God is giving you to own.
21 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 22 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great wonders and miracles. They will do these things to the people God has chosen. They will do these things to try to fool them, if that is possible. 23 So be careful. For I have warned you about all this before it happens.
24 “During the days after this trouble comes,
‘The sun will grow dark.
And the moon will not give its light.
25 The stars will fall from the sky.
And everything in the sky will be changed.’ Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
26 “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 The Son of Man will send his angels all around the earth. They will gather his chosen people from every part of the earth.
28 “The fig tree teaches us a lesson: When its branches become green and soft, and new leaves begin to grow, then you know that summer is near. 29 So also when you see all these things happening, then you will know that the time is near, ready to come. 30 I tell you the truth. All these things will happen while the people of this time are still living. 31 The whole world, earth and sky, will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed.
32 “No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know. Only the Father knows. 33 Be careful! Always be ready![a] You don’t know when that time will be. 34 It is like a man who goes on a trip. He leaves his house and lets his servants take care of it. He gives each servant a special job to do. One servant has the work of guarding the door. The man tells this servant always to be watchful. This is what I am now telling you. 35 You must always be ready. You don’t know when the owner of the house will come back. He might come in the evening, or at midnight, or in the early morning, or when the sun rises. 36 He might come back quickly. If you are always ready, then he will not find you sleeping. 37 I tell you this, and I say this to everyone: ‘Be ready!’”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.