Cities of Refuge
(Numbers 35:9–34; Deuteronomy 4:41–43; Joshua 20:1–9)
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, Deu 12:29Deu 6:10Deu 17:14Deu 7:1-2Deu 12:1 then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess. Exo 21:13Deu 4:41-43Heb 6:18Jos 20:2-7Num 35:10-15 You are to build roads for yourselves 1and 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. Isa 57:14Heb 12:13Isa 35:8Isa 62:10
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: Num 35:15-24Deu 4:421Ch 11:2Deu 19:6Gen 31:2Isa 30:33Jos 3:4 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. 2Ki 6:5-7Isa 32:2Num 35:25Pro 27:12
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. Num 35:122Sa 14:7Deu 21:22Jer 26:15-16Jos 20:5 This is why I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.
And if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as He swore to your fathers, and gives you all the land He promised them, Deu 12:20Exo 23:31Exo 34:24Gen 15:18-211Ki 4:21Deu 11:24-25Ezr 4:20Gen 28:14 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. Jos 20:7-8Deu 11:22-25Deu 12:32
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. Isa 59:7Pro 6:17Mat 27:4-51Ki 2:312Ki 21:162Ki 24:4Deu 19:13Deu 21:1-9
If, however, a man hates his neighbor and lies in wait, attacks him and kills him, and then flees to one of these cities, Deu 27:24Num 35:16-21Exo 21:12-14Gen 9:6Num 35:24Pro 28:17 the elders of his city must send for him, bring him back, and hand him over to the avenger of blood to die. 1Ki 2:28-341Ki 2:5-6 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. 1Ki 2:31Deu 21:9Deu 7:16Deu 7:22Sa 21:1Num 35:33-342Sa 21:14Deu 13:8
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. Pro 22:28Deu 27:17Hos 5:10Job 24:2Pro 23:10
The Testimony of Two or Three Witnesses
(Matthew 18:15–20)
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. 2 Num 35:302Co 13:1Deu 17:6Heb 10:28Mat 18:161Ti 5:19Jhn 8:171Ki 21:10
If a false witness testifies against someone, accusing him of a crime, Psa 27:12Psa 35:11Exo 23:1-71Ki 21:10-13Act 6:13Mrk 14:55-59 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. Deu 17:9Deu 21:5Mal 2:7Mat 23:2-3 The judges shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is proven to be a liar who has falsely accused his brother, Deu 13:14Deu 17:42Ch 19:6-7Job 19:16 you must do to him as he intended to do to his brother. So you must purge the evil from among you. 3 Pro 19:5Pro 19:9Dan 6:24Deu 17:7Deu 22:24Deu 13:5Deu 19:20Deu 21:20-21 Then the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and they will never again do anything so evil among you. Deu 17:13Deu 21:21Deu 13:111Ti 5:20Deu 17:7Pro 21:11Rom 13:3-4 You must show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, 4 hand for hand, and foot for foot. Mat 5:38-39Exo 21:23-25Deu 19:13Lev 24:17-21