Deuteronomy 19:2

Amplified Bible

you shall designate three cities for yourself in the central area of the land, which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
you are to set apart three cities for yourselves within the land the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

Hebrew Names Version
you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess it.

King James Version
Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it.

Lexham English Bible
you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God is giving to you to take possession of it.

English Standard Version
you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

New Century Version
Then choose three cities in the middle of the land the Lord your God is giving you as your own.

New English Translation
you must set apart for yourselves three cities in the middle of your land that the Lord your God is giving you as a possession.

New American Standard Bible
you shall set aside for yourself three cities in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the middes of thy lande which the Lorde thy God giueth thee to possesse it.

Legacy Standard Bible
you shall set apart three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess.

Contemporary English Version
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. 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.

Complete Jewish Bible
you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in your land that Adonai your God is giving you to possess.

Darby Translation
thou shalt separate three cities for thyself in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess.

Easy-to-Read Version
you must divide the land that the Lord your God is giving you. Divide it into three parts and choose a city in the middle of each part that can be a place of safety. You must also build good roads to these cities. Then whoever kills another person may run to the closest city of safety.

George Lamsa Translation
You shall set apart for you three cities in the midst of your land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

Good News Translation
divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then any of you that kill will be able to escape to one of them for protection.

Literal Translation
you shall separate three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Jehovah your God is giving you to possess it.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
thou shalt appoynte the out thre cities in the myddes of the lode, yt the LORDE thy God shal geue ye to possesse.

American Standard Version
thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.

Bible in Basic English
You are to have three towns marked out in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt seperate three cities for thee in the middes of the lande which the Lorde thy God geueth thee to possesse it:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy GOD giveth thee to possess it.

King James Version (1611)
Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God giueth thee to possesse it.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
thou shalt separate for thyself three cities in the midst of thy land, which the Lord thy God gives thee.

English Revised Version
thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

Berean Standard Bible
then you are to set apart for yourselves three cities within the land that the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
thou schalt departe thre citees to thee `in the myddis of the lond which thi Lord God schal yyue to thee into possessioun.

Young's Literal Translation
three cities thou dost separate for thee in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it.

Update Bible Version
you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it.

World English Bible
you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which Yahweh your God gives you to possess it.

New King James Version
you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.

New Living Translation
Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

New Life Bible
you should set apart three cities for yourself in the land the Lord your God gives you for your own.

New Revised Standard
you shall set apart three cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
three cities, shalt thou set apart for thee, - in the midst of thy land which Yahweh thy God is giving thee to possess.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,

Revised Standard Version
you shall set apart three cities for you in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess.

Contextual Overview

¹"When the LORD your God cuts off (destroys) the nations whose land He is giving you, and you dispossess them and live in their cities and in their houses, ²you shall designate three cities for yourself in the central area of the land, which the LORD your God is giving you to possess.³"You shall prepare and maintain for yourself the roads [to these cities], and divide the territory of your land into three parts, so that anyone who kills another unintentionally may escape there [for asylum]. ⁴"Now this is the case of the offender (manslayer) who may escape there and live [protected from vengeance]: when he kills his neighbor unintentionally, not having hated him previously— ⁵as [for example] when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, but the iron head slips off the wooden handle and hits his companion and he dies—the offender may escape to one of these cities and live; ⁶otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the offender in the heat of anger, and overtake him, because it is a long way, and take his life, even though he did not deserve to die, since he did not hate his neighbor beforehand. ⁷"Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside three cities [of refuge] for yourself.' ⁸"If the LORD your God enlarges your border, as He has sworn to your fathers to do, and gives you all the land which He promised to give to your fathers— ⁹if you keep and carefully observe all these commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk [that is, to live each and every day] always in His ways—then you shall add three more cities [of refuge] for yourself, besides these three, ¹⁰so that innocent blood will not be shed [by blood avengers] in your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and blood guilt will not be on you [for the death of an innocent man].

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

separate three cities: Unquestionably in imitation of these cities, the heathen had their asyla, and the Roman Catholics their privileged altars, and similar traditions seem to obtain in many barbarous nations, for "the North American Indian nations have most of them either a house or town of refuge, which is a sure asylum to protect a manslayer, or the unfortunate captive, if he once enter it. In almost every Indian nation, there are several towns, which are called old beloved, ancient, holy, or white towns - white being their fixed emblem of peace, friendship, prosperity, happiness, purity, etc.. They seem to have been formerly towns of refuge; for it is not in the memory of the oldest people that human blood was shed in them." Deuteronomy 4:41-43, Exodus 21:13, Numbers 35:10-15, Joshua 20:2-7, Hebrews 6:18

Cross-References

Genesis 18:4
"Please let a little water be brought [by one of my servants] and [you may] wash your feet, and recline and rest comfortably under the tree.

Genesis 19:17
When they had brought them outside, one [of the angels] said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, or stop anywhere in the entire valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], or you will be consumed and swept away."

Genesis 19:21
And the angel said to him, "Behold, I grant you this request also; I will not destroy this town of which you have spoken.

Genesis 19:28
and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley [of the Dead Sea]; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a kiln (pottery furnace).

Genesis 19:29
Now when God ravaged and destroyed the cities of the plain [of Siddim], He remembered Abraham [and for that reason], and He sent [Abraham's nephew] Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He destroyed the cities in which Lot had lived.

Acts 16:15
And when she was baptized, along with her household, she pleaded with us, saying, "If you have judged me and decided that I am faithful to the Lord [a true believer], come to my house and stay." And she persuaded us.

Hebrews 13:2
Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land,.... From the cities they took possession of and dwelt in; and indeed from the cities of the Levites, which were given to them to inhabit; three were before ordered to be separated from those inhabited by the tribes of Reuben and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh, Deuteronomy 4:41 but these were to be in the midst of the land of Canaan; see Joshua 20:7,

which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess it: which as it is often mentioned when this land is spoken of, so it carries in it a reason here why this order of the Lord's should be readily complied with, the whole land and all the cities of it being the gift of his to them.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This and the next two chapters contain enactments designed to protect human life, and to impress its sanctity on Israel.

In Deuteronomy 19:1-13 the directions respecting the preparation of the roads to the cities of refuge, the provision of additional cities in case of an extension of territory, and the intervention of the elders as representing the congregation, are unique to Deuteronomy and supplementary to the laws on the same subject given in the earlier books (compare the marginal reference).

Deuteronomy 19:1, Deuteronomy 19:2

The three cities of refuge for the district east of Jordan had been already named. Moses now directs that when the territory on the west of Jordan had been conquered, a like allotment of three other cities in it should be made. This was accordingly done; compare Joshua 20:1 ff,

Deuteronomy 19:3

Thou shalt prepare thee a way - It was the duty of the Senate to repair the roads that led to the cities of refuge annually, and remove every obstruction. No hillock was left, no river over which there was not a bridge; and the road was at least 32 cubits broad. At cross-roads there were posts bearing the words Refuge, Refuge, to guide the fugitive in his flight. It seems as if in Isaiah 40:3 ff the imagery were borrowed from the preparation of the ways to the cities of refuge.

Deuteronomy 19:5

With the axe - literally, “with the iron.” Note the employment of iron for tools, and compare Deuteronomy 3:11 note.

Deuteronomy 19:8, Deuteronomy 19:9

Provision is here made for the anticipated enlargement of the borders of Israel to the utmost limits promised by God, from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates (Genesis 15:18, note; Exodus 23:31, note). This promise, owing to the sins of the people, did not receive its fulfillment until after David had conquered the Philistines, Syrians, etc.; and this but a transient one, for many of the conquered peoples regained independence on the dissolution of Solomon’s empire.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Deuteronomy 19:2. Thou shalt separate three cities — Numbers 35:11, &c.