Greek: Septuagint (LXX)
English: John Barach
English: John Barach
Chapter 19
The Cities of Refuge
| 1 Ἐὰν δὲ ἀφανίσῃ κύριος ὁ θεός σου τὰ ἔθνη ἃ ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοί τὴν γῆν αὐτῶν, καὶ κατακληρονομήσητε αὐτοὺς καὶ κατοικήσητε ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν αὐτῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις αὐτῶν, 2 τρεῖς πόλεις διαστελεῖς σεαυτῷ ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς σου, ἧς κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοι. 3 στόχασαί σοί τὴν ὁδὸν καὶ τριμεριεῖς τὰ ὅρια τῆς γῆς σου, ἣν καταμερίζει σοί κύριος ὁ θεός σου, καὶ ἔσται καταφυγὴ ἐκεῖ παντὶ φονευτῇ. | 1 And when the Lord your God utterly destroys the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving to you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 you shall set apart for yourself three cities in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God is giving to you. 3 Survey the road for yourself and divide the borders of your land into three parts—the land which the Lord your God is apportioning to you—and there shall be a refuge there for every manslayer. |
| 4 τοῦτο δὲ ἔσται τὸ πρόσταγμα τοῦ φονευτοῦ, ὃς ἄν φύγῃ ἐκεῖ καὶ ζήσεται· ὃς ἄν πατάξῃ τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ ἀκουσίως καὶ οὗτος οὐ μισῶν αὐτὸν πρὸ τῆς ἐχθὲς καὶ πρὸ τῆς τρίτης, 5 καὶ ὃς ἄν εἰσέλθῃ μετὰ τοῦ πλησίον εἰς τὸν δρυμὸν συναγαγεῖν ξύλα, καὶ ἐκκρουσθῇ ἡ χεὶρ αὐτοῦ τῇ ἀξίνῃ κόπτοντος τὸ ξύλον, καὶ ἐκπεσὸν τὸ σιδήριον ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τύχῃ τοῦ πλησίον, καὶ ἀποθάνῃ, οὗτος καταφεύξεται εἰς μίαν τῶν πόλεων τούτων καὶ ζήσεται, 6 ἵνα μὴ διώξας ὁ ἀγχιστεύων τοῦ αἵματος ὀπίσω τοῦ φονεύσαντος, ὅτι παρατεθέρμανται τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ καταλάβῃ αὐτόν, ἐὰν μακροτέρα ᾖ ἡ ὁδός, καὶ πατάξῃ αὐτοῦ τὴν ψυχήν, καὶ ἀποθάνῃ, καὶ τούτῳ οὐκ ἔστιν κρίσις θανάτου, ὅτι οὐ μισῶν ἦν αὐτὸν πρὸ τῆς ἐχθὲς καὶ πρὸ τῆς τρίτης. 7 διὰ τοῦτο ἐγώ σοί ἐντέλλομαι τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο λέγων τρεῖς πόλεις διαστελεῖς σεαυτῷ· | 4 And this is the ordinance for the manslayer who may flee there and live: whoever strikes his neighbor unintentionally, and he was not hating him yesterday or the day before, 5 and whoever enters with his neighbor into the forest to gather wood, and his hand is driven with the axe while cutting the wood, and the iron head, slipping from the wood, happens to hit the neighbor and he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live, 6 lest the next of kin for the blood (ho anchisteuōn tou haimatos), because his heart is heated up, pursue after the slayer and overtake him if the road is too long, and strike his life and he dies—yet for this man there is no judgment of death, because he was not hating him yesterday or the day before. 7 Therefore I command you this word, saying: "You shall set apart for yourself three cities." |
| 8 ἐὰν δὲ ἐμπλατύνῃ κύριος ὁ θεός σου τὰ ὅριά σου, ὃν τρόπον ὤμοσεν τοῖς πατράσιν σου, καὶ δῷ σοί κύριος πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, ἣν εἶπεν δοῦναι τοῖς πατράσιν σου, 9 ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς ποιεῖν πάσας τὰς ἐντολὰς ταύτας, ἃς ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί σοί σήμερον, ἀγαπᾶν κύριον τὸν θεόν σου, πορεύεσθαι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας, καὶ προσθήσεις σεαυτῷ ἔτι τρεῖς πόλεις πρὸς τὰς τρεῖς ταύτας, 10 καὶ οὐκ ἐκχυθήσεται αἷμα ἀναίτιον ἐν τῇ γῇ σου, ᾗ κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοί ἐν κλήρῳ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοί αἵματι ἔνοχος. | 8 And if the Lord your God expands your borders, in the manner he swore to your fathers, and the Lord gives to you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers— 9 if you listen to do all these commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk in all his ways all the days—then you shall add for yourself three more cities to these three, 10 so that innocent blood will not be shed in your land which the Lord your God is giving to you as an allotment, and you will not be guilty of blood. |
The Case of Intentional Murder
| 11 ἐὰν δὲ γένηται ἄνθρωπος μισῶν τὸν πλησίον καὶ ἐνεδρεύσῃ αὐτὸν καὶ ἐπαναστῇ ἐπ' αὐτὸν καὶ πατάξῃ αὐτοῦ ψυχήν, καὶ ἀπεθάνῃ, καὶ φύγῃ εἰς μίαν τῶν πόλεων τούτων, 12 καὶ ἀποστελοῦσιν ἡ γερουσία τῆς πόλεως αὐτοῦ καὶ λήμψονται αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν καὶ παραδώσουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς χεῖρας τῷ ἀγχιστεύοντι τοῦ αἵματος, καὶ ἀποθανεῖται· 13 οὐ φείσεται ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἐπ' αὐτῷ, καὶ καθαριεῖς τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀναίτιον ἐξ Ἰσραήλ, καὶ εὖ σοί ἔσται. | 11 But if a man is hating his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes his life and he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall deliver him into the hands of the next of kin for the blood, and he shall die. 13 Your eye shall not spare him, and you shall cleanse the innocent blood from Israel, and it shall be well with you. |
Property Rights and Landmarks
| 14 οὐ μετακινήσεις ὅρια τοῦ πλησίον σου, ἃ ἔστησαν οἱ πατέρες σου ἐν τῇ κληρονομίᾳ σου, ᾗ κατεκληρονομήθης ἐν τῇ γῇ, ᾗ κύριος ὁ θεός σου δίδωσίν σοί ἐν κλήρῳ. | 14 You shall not move the boundaries of your neighbor, which your fathers established in your inheritance where you have been allotted in the land which the Lord your God is giving to you as an allotment. |
The Law of Witnesses and Retaliation
| 15 οὐκ ἐμμενεῖ μάρτυς εἷς μαρτυρῆσαι κατὰ ἀνθρώπου κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀδικίαν καὶ κατὰ πᾶν ἁμάρτημα καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν ἣν, ἄν ἁμάρτῃ· ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων καὶ ἐπὶ στόματος τριῶν μαρτύρων σταθήσεται πᾶν ῥῆμα. 16 ἐὰν δὲ καταστῇ μάρτυς ἄδικος κατὰ ἀνθρώπου καταλέγων αὐτοῦ ἀσέβειαν, 17 καὶ στήσονται οἱ δύο ἄνθρωποι, οἷς ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἡ ἀντιλογία, ἔναντι κυρίου καὶ ἔναντι τῶν ἱερέων καὶ ἔναντι τῶν κριτῶν, οἳ ἐὰν ὦσιν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις, 18 καὶ ἐξετάσωσιν οἱ κριταὶ ἀκριβῶς, καὶ ἰδοὺ μάρτυς ἄδικος ἐμαρτύρησεν ἄδικα, ἀντέστη κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, 19 καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτῷ ὃν τρόπον ἐπονηρεύσατο ποιῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξαρεῖς τὸν πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν. 20 καὶ οἱ ἐπίλοιποι ἀκούσαντες φοβηθήσονται καὶ οὐ προσθήσουσιν ἔτι ποιῆσαι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν. 21 οὐ φείσεται ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἐπ' αὐτῷ· ψυχὴν ἀντὶ ψυχῆς, ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ὀδόντα ἀντὶ ὀδόντος, χεῖρα ἀντὶ χειρός, πόδα ἀντὶ ποδός. | 15 A single witness shall not stand to testify against a man concerning any injustice or any offense or any sin that he may commit; by the mouth of two witnesses or by the mouth of three witnesses every word shall be established. 16 And if an unjust witness stands against a man to charge him with impiety, 17 then the two men who have the controversy shall stand before the Lord and before the priests and before the judges who may be [in office] in those days. 18 And the judges shall examine accurately, and behold—if the witness is unjust and has testified falsely, having stood against his brother— 19 then you shall do to him in the manner he evilly intended to do to his brother; and you shall remove the evil from among yourselves. 20 And the rest, hearing [of it], shall fear and shall no longer do according to this evil word among you. 21 Your eye shall not spare him: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. |