When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.
Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which Jehovah thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither.
And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past;
as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the {Hebrew: iron.}head slippeth from {Or, the tree}the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he dieth; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live:
lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee.
And if Jehovah 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;
if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three:
that {Or, the blood of an innocent man}innocent blood be not shed in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee.
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 dieth, and he flee into one of these cities;
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.
Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away {Or, the blood of the innocent}the innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee.
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 Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall a matter be established.
If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of {Or, rebellion See chapter 13:5}wrong-doing,
then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days;
and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and have testified falsely against his brother;
then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to do unto his brother: so shalt thou put away the evil from the midst of thee.
And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of thee.
And thine eyes shall not pity; life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Querverweise zu 5. Mose 19,15 5Mo 19,15
At the mouth of two witnesses, or three witnesses, shall he that is to die be put to death; at the mouth of one witness he shall not be put to death.
Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.
and set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them bear witness against him, saying, Thou didst {Or, renounce}curse God and the king. And then carry him out, and stone him to death.
And the two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him: and the base fellows bare witness against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth did {Or, renounce}curse God and the king. Then they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.
But if he hear thee not, take with thee one or two more, that at the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may be established.
and they found it not, though many false witnesses came. But afterward came two,
and said, This man said, I am able to destroy the {Or, sanctuary: as in chapter 23:35; 27:5}temple of God, and to build it in three days.
Yea and in your law it is written, {Compare Deuteronomy 19:15; 17:6}that the witness of two men is true.
This is the third time I am coming to you. At the mouth of two witnesses or three shall every word be established.
Against an elder receive not an accusation, except at the mouth of two or three witnesses.
A man that hath set at nought Moses' law dieth without compassion on the word of two or three witnesses:
And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
These are the two olive trees and the two {Greek: lampstands.}candlesticks, standing before the Lord of the earth.
And if any man desireth to hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth and devoureth their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed.
These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire.
And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that cometh up out of the abyss shall make war with them, and overcome them, and kill them.