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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Deuteronomy 19 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/deuteronomy/19.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/deuteronomy/19-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Deuteronomy 19</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../deuteronomy/18.htm" title="Deuteronomy 18">◄</a> Deuteronomy 19 <a href="../deuteronomy/20.htm" title="Deuteronomy 20">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Safe Towns</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="NUM 35:9-28">Numbers 35.9-28</ref>; <ref loc="JOS 20:1-9">Joshua 20.1-9</ref>)</h5><h5 class="sp">Moses said to Israel:</h5><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_1"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.1" class="v5_19_1">1</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.19.1!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Soon you will go into the land and attack the nations. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God will destroy them and give you their lands, towns, and homes. Then after you are settled, </span><span class="v5_19_2"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.2-Deut.19.4" class="v5_19_2">2-4</span>you must choose three of your towns to be Safe Towns. Divide the land into three regions with one Safe Town near the middle of each, so that a Safe Town can be easily reached from anywhere in your land.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_2">Then, if one of you accidentally kills someone, you can run to a Safe Town and find protection from being put to death. But you must not have been angry with the person you killed.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_5"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.5" class="v5_19_5">5</span>For example, suppose you and a friend go into the forest to cut wood. You are chopping down a tree with an ax, when the ax head slips off the handle, hits your friend, and kills him. You can run to one of the Safe Towns and save your life. </span><span class="v5_19_6"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.6" class="v5_19_6">6</span>You don't deserve to die, since you did not mean to harm your friend. But he did get killed, and his relatives might be very angry. They might even choose one of the men from their family to track you down and kill you. If it is too far to one of the Safe Towns, the victim's relative might be able to catch you and kill you. </span><span class="v5_19_7"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.7" class="v5_19_7">7</span>That's why I said there must be three Safe Towns.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_8"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.8-Deut.19.9" class="v5_19_8">8-9</span>Israel, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God has promised that if you obey his laws and teachings I'm giving you, and if you always love him, then he will give you the land he promised your ancestors. When that happens, you must name three more Safe Towns in the new territory. </span><span class="v5_19_10"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.10" class="v5_19_10">10</span>You will need them, so innocent people won't be killed on your land while they are trying to reach a Safe Town that is too far away. You will be guilty of murder, if innocent people lose their lives because you didn't name enough Safe Towns in the land the <span class="nd">Lord</span> your God will give you.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_11"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.11" class="v5_19_11">11</span>But what if you really do commit murder? Suppose one of you hates a neighbor. So you wait in a deserted place, kill the neighbor, and run to a Safe Town. </span><span class="v5_19_12"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.12" class="v5_19_12">12</span>If that happens, the leaders of your town must send messengers to bring you back from the Safe Town. They will hand you over to one of the victim's relatives, who will put you to death.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_13"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.13" class="v5_19_13">13</span>Israel, for the good of the whole country, you must kill anyone who murders an innocent person. Never show mercy to a murderer!</span></p><h3 class="s1">Property Lines</h3><h5 class="sp">Moses said to Israel:</h5><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_14"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.14" class="v5_19_14">14</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.19.14!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> In the land the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is giving you, there are already stones set up to mark the property lines between fields. So don't move those stones.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Witnesses Must Tell the Truth</h3><h5 class="sp">Moses said to Israel:</h5><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_15"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.15" class="v5_19_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.19.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Before you are convicted of a crime, at least two witnesses must be able to testify that you did it.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_16"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.16" class="v5_19_16">16</span>If you accuse someone of a crime, but seem to be lying, </span><span class="v5_19_17"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.17-Deut.19.18" class="v5_19_17">17-18</span>then both you and the accused must be taken to the court at the place where the <span class="nd">Lord</span> is worshiped. There the priests and judges will find out if you are lying or telling the truth.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_17">If you are lying and the accused is innocent, </span><span class="v5_19_19"><span class="reftext" id="Deut.19.19-Deut.19.21" class="v5_19_19">19-21</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Deut.19.19-Deut.19.21!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> then you will be punished without mercy. You will receive the same punishment the accused would have received if found guilty, whether it means losing an eye, a tooth, a hand, a foot, or even your life.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v5_19_19">Israel, the crime of telling lies in court must be punished. And when people hear what happens to witnesses that lie, everyone else who testifies in court will tell the truth.</span></p> </div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Bible text from the Contemporary English Version 2nd Edition (CEV®) is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by American Bible Society, 101 North Independence Mall East, Floor 8, Philadelphia, PA 19106-2155 (<a href="http://www.americanbible.org">www.americanbible.org</a>). Learn more at <a href="http://www.cev.bible">www.cev.bible</a>. 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