Cities of Refuge (Numbers 35:9–34; Deuteronomy 4:41–43; Joshua 20:1–9)
1 CPDV “When the Lord your God will have destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to you, and when you possess it and live in its cities and buildings, BSB BSB: When the LORD your God has cut off the nations whose land He is giving you, and when you have driven them out and settled in their cities and houses,
2 CPDV you shall separate for yourselves three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give to you as a possession, BSB BSB: then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
3 CPDV paving the road carefully. And you shall divide the entire province of your land equally into three parts, so that he who is forced to flee because of manslaughter may have a place nearby to which he may be able to escape. BSB BSB: You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities.
4 CPDV This shall be the law of the killer who flees, whose life is to be saved. Whoever strikes down his neighbor unwillingly, and who has been proven to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before, BSB BSB: Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:
5 CPDV such that he had gone with him into the forest simply to cut wood, and in cutting down the tree, the axe slipped from his hand, or the iron slipped from the handle, and it struck his friend and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities stated above, and he shall live. BSB BSB: If he goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut timber and swings his axe to chop down a tree, but the blade flies off the handle and strikes and kills his neighbor, he may flee to one of these cities to save his life.
6 CPDV Otherwise, perhaps the near relative of him whose blood was shed, impelled by his grief, might pursue and apprehend him, unless the way is too long, and he might strike down the life of him who is not guilty unto death, since he had demonstrated that he had no prior hatred against him who was slain. BSB BSB: Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.
7 CPDV For this reason, I instruct you to separate three cities at equal distance from one another. BSB BSB: This is why I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.
8 CPDV And when the Lord your God will have enlarged your borders, just as he swore to your fathers, and when he will have given to you all the land that he has promised to them, BSB BSB: And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them,
9 CPDV (but this is only so if you will keep his commandments and do the things which I instruct to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in his ways at all times) you shall add for yourselves three other cities, and so you shall double the number of the three cities stated above. BSB BSB: and if you carefully keep all these commandments I am giving you today, loving the LORD your God and walking in His ways at all times, then you are to add three more cities to these three.
10 CPDV So may innocent blood not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord your God will give you to possess, lest you be guilty of blood. BSB BSB: Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.
11 CPDV But if anyone, having hatred for his neighbor, will have lain in ambush for his life, and, rising up, will have struck him, and he will have died, and if he will have fled to one of the cities stated above, BSB BSB: If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities,
12 CPDV the elders of his city shall send, and they shall take him from the place of refuge, and they shall deliver him into the hand of the relative of him whose blood was shed, and he shall die. BSB BSB: the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die.
13 CPDV You shall not take pity on him, and so shall you take away the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may be well with you. BSB BSB: You must show him no pity. You are to purge from Israel the guilt of shedding innocent blood, that it may go well with you.
14 CPDV You shall not take up or move the landmark of your neighbor, which those before you have placed, in your possession that the Lord your God will give to you, in the land you will receive to possess. BSB BSB: You must not move your neighbor’s boundary marker, which was set up by your ancestors to mark the inheritance you shall receive in the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.
The Testimony of Two or Three Witnesses (Matthew 18:15–20)
15 CPDV One witness shall not stand against another, no matter what the sin or outrage may be. For every word shall stand by the mouth of two or three witnesses. BSB BSB: A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
16 CPDV If a lying witness will have stood against a man, accusing him of a transgression, BSB BSB: If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime,
17 CPDV both of those whose case it is shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges who shall be in those days. BSB BSB: both parties to the dispute must stand in the presence of the LORD, before the priests and judges who are in office at that time.
19 CPDV they shall render to him just as he intended to do to his brother. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst. BSB BSB: you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you.
20 CPDV Then the others, upon hearing this, will be afraid, and they will by no means dare to do such things. BSB BSB: Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you.
21 CPDV You shall not take pity on him. Instead, you shall require a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.” BSB BSB: You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.