Deuteronomy 19

Old Testament · Brenton Septuagint with Greek parallel

Deuteronomy 19

1And when the Lord your God shall have destroyed the nations, which God gives you, even the land, and you shall inherit them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses,Ἐὰν δὲ ἀφανίσῃ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου τὰ ἔθνη, ἃ ὁ Θεὸς δίδωσί σοι τὴν γῆν, καὶ κατακληρονομήσητε αὐτοὺς, καὶ κατοικήσητε ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν αὐτῶν, καὶ ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις αὐτῶν,

2you shall separate for yourself three cities in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you.τρεῖς πόλεις διαστελεῖς σεαυτῷ ἐν μέσῳ τῆς γῆς σου, ἧς Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου δίδωσί σοι.

3Take a survey of your way, and you shall divide the coasts of your land, which the Lord your God apportions to you, into three parts, and there shall be there a refuge for every manslayer.Στόχασαί σοι τὴν ὁδὸν, καὶ τριμεριεῖς τὰ ὅρια τῆς γῆς σου, ἣν καταμερίζει σοι Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου, καὶ ἔσται καταφυγὴ παντὶ φονευτῇ.

4And this shall be the ordinance of the manslayer, who shall flee there, and shall live, whoever shall have struck his neighbor ignorantly, whereas he hated him not * in times past.Τοῦτο δὲ ἔσται τὸ πρόσταγμα τοῦ φονευτοῦ, ὃς ἂν φύγῃ ἐκεῖ, καὶ ζήσεται, ὃς ἂν πατάξῃ τὸν πλησίον αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἰδῶς, καὶ οὗτος οὐ μισῶν αὐτὸν πρὸ τῆς χθὲς καὶ τρίτης.

5And whoever shall enter with his neighbor into the thicket, to gather wood, if the hand of him that cuts wood with the axe should be violently shaken, and the axe head falling off from the handle should light on his neighbor, and he should die, he shall flee to one of these cities, and live.Καὶ ὅς ἐὰν 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.

6Lest the avenger of blood pursue after the slayer, because his heart is hot, and overtake him, if the way be too long, and † kill him, though there is to this man no sentence of death, because he hated him not in time past.Ἵνα μὴ διώξας ὁ ἀγχιστεύων τοῦ αἵματος ὀπίσω τοῦ φονεύσαντος, ὅτι παρατεθέρμανται τῇ καρδίᾳ, καὶ καταλάβῃ αὐτὸν, ἐὰν μακροτέρα ἠ· ἡ ὁδὸς, καὶ πατάξῃ αὐτοῦ ψυχήν· καὶ τούτῳ οὐκ ἔστι κρίσις θανάτου, ὅτι οὐ μισῶν ἦν αὐτὸν πρὸ τῆς χθὲς, οὐδὲ πρὸ τῆς τρίτης.

7Therefore I charge you, saying, You shall separate for your self three cities.Διὰ τοῦτο ἐγώ σοι ἐντέλλομαι τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο, λέγων, τρεῖς πόλεις διαστελεῖς σεαυτῷ.

8And if the Lord shall enlarge your borders, as he swore to your fathers, and the Lord shall give to you all the land which he said he would give to your fathers;Ἐὰν δὲ ἐμπλατύνῃ Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου τὰ ὅριά σου, ὃν τρόπον ὤμοσε τοῖς πατράσι σου, καὶ δῷ σοι Κύριος πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν, ἣν εἶπε δοῦναι τοῖς πατράσι σου,

9if you shall listen to do all these commands, which I charge you this day, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways continually; you shall add for yourself yet three cities to these three.ἐὰν ἀκούσῃς ποιεῖν πάσας τὰς ἐντολὰς ταύτας, ἃς ἐγὼ ἐντέλλομαί σοι σήμερον, ἀγαπᾷν Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου, πορεύεσθαι ἐν πάσαις ταῖς ὁδοῖς αὐτοῦ πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας· προσθήσεις σεαυτῷ ἔτι τρεῖς πόλεις πρὸς τὰς τρεῖς ταύτας.

10So innocent blood shall not be spilled in the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit, and there shall not be in you one guilty of blood.Καὶ οὐκ ἐκχυθήσεται αἷμα ἀναίτιον ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἡ· Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου δίδωσί σοι ἐν κλήρῳ, καὶ οὐκ ἔσται ἐν σοὶ αἵματι ἔνοχος.

11But if there should be in you a man hating his neighbor, and he should lay wait for him, and rise up against him, and strike him, that he die, and he should flee to one of these cities,Ἐὰν δὲ γένηται ἐν σοὶ ἄνθρωπος μισῶν τὸν πλησίον, καὶ ἐνεδρεύσῃ αὐτὸν, καὶ ἐπαναστῇ ἐπʼ αὐτὸν, καὶ πατάξῃ αὐτοῦ ψυχὴν, καὶ ἀποθάνῃ, καὶ φύγῃ εἰς μίαν τῶν πόλεων τούτων·

12then shall the elders of his city send, and take him thence, and they shall deliver him into the hands of the avengers of blood, and he shall die.καὶ ἀποστελοῦσιν ἡ γερουσία τῆς πόλεως αὐτοῦ, καὶ λήμψονται αὐτὸν ἐκεῖθεν, καὶ παραδώσουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ἀγχιστευόντων τοῦ αἵματος, καὶ ἀποθανεῖται.

13Your eye shall not spare him; so shall you purge innocent blood from Israel, and it shall be well with you.Οὐ φείσεται ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἐπʼ αὐτῷ, καὶ καθαριεῖς τὸ αἷμα τὸ ἀναίτιον ἐξ Ἰσραὴλ, καὶ εὖ σοι ἔσται.

14You shall not move the landmarks of your neighbor, which your fathers set in the inheritance, in which you have obtained a share in the land, which the Lord your God gives you to inherit.Οὐ μετακινήσεις ὅρια τοῦ πλησίον, ἃ ἔστησαν οἱ πατέρες σου ἐν τῇ κληρονομίᾳ, ᾗ κατεκληρονομήθης ἐν τῇ γῇ, ἣν Κύριος ὁ Θεός σου δίδωσί σοι ἐν κλήρῳ.

15One witness shall not ‡ stand to testify against a man for any iniquity, or for any fault, or for any sin which he may commit; ✡ by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, shall every word be established.Οὐκ ἐμμενεῖ μάρτυς εἷς μαρτυρῆσαι κατὰ ἀνθρώπου κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀδικίαν, καὶ κατὰ πᾶν ἁμάρτημα, καὶ κατὰ πᾶσαν ἁμαρτίαν, ἣν ἐὰν ἁμάρτῃ· ἐπὶ στόματος δύο μαρτύρων, καὶ ἐπὶ στόματος τριῶν μαρτύρων, στήσεται πᾶν ῥῆμα.

16And if an unjust witness rise up against a man, alleging iniquity against him;Ἐὰν δὲ καταστῇ μάρτυς ἄδικος κατὰ ἀνθρώπου, καταλέγων αὐτοῦ ἀσέβειαν·

17then shall the two men between whom the controversy is, stand before the Lord, and before the priests, and before the judges, who may be in those days.καὶ στήσονται οἱ δύο ἄνθρωποι οἷς ἐστιν αὐτοῖς ἡ ἀντιλογία, ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ ἔναντι τῶν ἱερέων, καὶ ἔναντι τῶν κριτῶν, οἳ ἂν ὦσιν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις·

18And the judges shall make diligent inquiry, and, behold, if an unjust witness has borne unjust testimony; and has stood up against his brother;Καὶ ἐξετάσωσιν οἱ κριταὶ ἀκριβῶς, καὶ ἰδοὺ μάρτυς ἄδικος ἐμαρτύρησεν ἄδικα, ἀντέστη κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ·

19then shall you do to him as he wickedly devised to do against his brother, and you shall remove the evil from yourselves.Καὶ ποιήσετε αὐτῷ ὃν τρόπον ἐπονηρεύσατο ποιῆσαι κατὰ τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξαρεῖς τὸ πονηρὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν.

20And the rest shall hear and fear, and do no more according to this evil thing in the midst of you.Καὶ οἱ ἐπίλοιποι ἀκούσαντες φοβηθήσονται, καὶ οὐ προσθήσουσιν ἔτι ποιῆσαι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμα τὸ πονηρὸν τοῦτο ἐν ὑμῖν.

21Your eye shall not spare him: you shall exact life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.Οὐ φείσεται ὁ ὀφθαλμός σου ἐπʼ αὐτῷ· ψυχὴν ἀντὶ ψυχῆς, ὀφθαλμὸν ἀντὶ ὀφθαλμοῦ, ὀδόντα ἀντὶ ὀδόντος, χεῖρα ἀντὶ χειρὸς, πόδα ἀντὶ ποδός.

Translator's Notes

These notes come from the printed edition of Sir Lancelot Brenton's classic English translation of the Septuagint (LXX), and record where the Greek differs from the English rendering or admits more than one reading.

• v. 4*Gr. before yesterday and the third day.
• v. 6†Gr. strike his life.
• v. 15‡Gr. remain.
• v. 15✡2 Cor 13:1