Deuteronomy 19:9

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
provided you keep every one of these commands I am giving you today and follow them, loving the Lord your God and walking in his ways at all times—you are to add three more cities to these three.

Hebrew Names Version
if you shall keep all this mitzvah to do it, which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shall you add three cities more for you, besides these three:

King James Version
If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

Lexham English Bible
then if you diligently observe this entire commandment that I am commanding you today by loving Yahweh your God and by going in his ways at all times, then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three.

English Standard Version
provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—then you shall add three other cities to these three,

New English Translation
and then you are careful to observe all these commandments I am giving you today (namely, to love the Lord your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities to these three.

Amplified Bible
if 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,

New American Standard Bible
if you carefully follow all of this commandment which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in His ways always—then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three.

Geneva Bible (1587)
(If thou keepe all these commaundements to doe them, which I commaund thee this day: to wit, that thou loue the Lord thy God, and walke in his waies for euer) then shalt thou adde three cities moe for thee besides those three,

Legacy Standard Bible
if you be careful to do all this commandment which I am commanding you today, to love Yahweh your God and to walk in His ways all your days—then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three.

Complete Jewish Bible
provided you keep and observe all these mitzvot I am giving you today, loving Adonai your God and always following his ways — then you are to add three more cities for yourselves, besides these three;

Darby Translation
(if thou keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk in his ways continually), then shalt thou add three cities more for thyself to these three,

Easy-to-Read Version
He will do this if you completely obey his commands that I give you today—if you love the Lord your God and always live the way he wants. Then, when he gives you more land, you should choose three more cities for safety. They should be added to the first three cities.

George Lamsa Translation
If you shall keep all these commandments to do them, which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in his ways always; then you shall add three cities more for you besides these three;

Good News Translation
then you are to select three more cities. (He will give you this land if you do everything that I command you today and if you love the Lord your God and live according to his teachings.)

Literal Translation
if you will keep these commandments which I am commanding you today, to love Jehovah your God, and to walk in His ways forever, then you shall add to yourself another three cities to these three.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
(so that thou kepe all these comaundementes, and do yt I commaunde the this daye, yt thou loue the LORDE thy God, and walke in his wayes all yi life longe) the shalt thou adde yet thre cities vnto these thre,

American Standard Version
if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three:

Bible in Basic English
If you keep and do all these orders which I give you today, loving the Lord your God and walking ever in his ways; then let three more towns, in addition to these three, be marked out for you:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Thou shalt kepe all these commaundementes to do them, which I commaunde thee this day, that thou loue the Lorde thy God, and walke in his wayes euer: and adde three cities mo for thee beside these three,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in His ways--then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three;

King James Version (1611)
(If thou shalt keepe all these commandements to doe them, which I command thee this day, to loue the Lord thy God, and to walke euer in his wayes) then shalt thou adde three cities moe for thee, beside these three:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
if thou shalt hearken to do all these commands, which I charge thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways continually; thou shalt add for thyself yet three cities to these three.

English Revised Version
if thou shalt keep all this commandment to do it, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three:

Berean Standard Bible
and if you carefully observe 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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and doist tho thingis whiche Y comaunde to thee to day, that thou loue thi Lord God, and go in hise weies in al tyme, thou schalt adde to thee thre othere citees, and thou schalt double the noumbre of the forseid citees,

Young's Literal Translation
when thou keepest all this command to do it, which I am commanding thee to-day, to love Jehovah thy God, and to walk in His ways all the days -- then thou hast added to thee yet three cities to these three;

Update Bible Version
if you shall keep all [of] this commandment to do it, which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three:

Webster's Bible Translation
If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three:

World English Bible
if you shall keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you this day, to love Yahweh your God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shall you add three cities more for you, besides these three:

New King James Version
and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways, then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three,

New Living Translation
you must designate three additional cities of refuge. (He will give you this land if you are careful to obey all the commands I have given you—if you always love the Lord your God and walk in his ways.)

New Life Bible
if you are careful to obey all the Laws I tell you today. Love the Lord your God. Walk in His ways always. Then you will add three other cities to these three.

New Revised Standard
provided you diligently observe this entire commandment that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and walking always in his ways—then you shall add three more cities to these three,

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
because thou dost observe all this commandment to do it which I am commanding thee to-day, to love Yahweh thy God and to walk in his paths all the days, then shalt thou add unto thee yet three cities, unto these three;

Douay-Rheims Bible
(Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities, and shalt double the number of the three cities aforesaid:

Revised Standard Version
provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you this day, by loving the LORD your God and by walking ever in his ways--then you shall add three other cities to these three,

New American Standard Bible (1995)
if you carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in His ways always—then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three.

Contextual Overview

¹When God , your God, throws the nations out of the country that God , your God, is giving you and you settle down in their cities and houses, you are to set aside three easily accessible cities in the land that God , your God, is giving you as your very own. Divide your land into thirds, this land that God , your God, is giving you to possess, and build roads to the towns so that anyone who accidentally kills another can flee there. ⁴This is the guideline for the murderer who flees there to take refuge: He has to have killed his neighbor without premeditation and with no history of bad blood between them. For instance, a man goes with his neighbor into the woods to cut a tree; he swings the ax, the head slips off the handle and hits his neighbor, killing him. He may then flee to one of these cities and save his life. If the city is too far away, the avenger of blood racing in hot-blooded pursuit might catch him since it's such a long distance, and kill him even though he didn't deserve it. It wasn't his fault. There was no history of hatred between them. Therefore I command you: Set aside the three cities for yourselves. ⁸When God , your God, enlarges your land, extending its borders as he solemnly promised your ancestors, by giving you the whole land he promised them because you are diligently living the way I'm commanding you today, namely, to love God , your God, and do what he tells you all your life; and when that happens, then add three more to these three cities so that there is no chance of innocent blood being spilled in your land. God , your God, is giving you this land as an inheritance—you don't want to pollute it with innocent blood and bring bloodguilt upon yourselves. ¹¹On the other hand, if a man with a history of hatred toward his neighbor waits in ambush, then jumps him, mauls and kills him, and then runs to one of these cities, that's a different story. The elders of his own city are to send for him and have him brought back. They are to hand him over to the avenger of blood for execution. Don't feel sorry for him. Clean out the pollution of wrongful murder from Israel so that you'll be able to live well and breathe clean air.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

If thou shalt: Deuteronomy 11:22-25, Deuteronomy 12:32

then shalt thou: Joshua 20:7, Joshua 20:8

Reciprocal: Exodus 21:13 - I will appoint

Cross-References

Genesis 11:6
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.

Genesis 13:12
So Abram left Egypt and went back to the Negev, he and his wife and everything he owned, and Lot still with him. By now Abram was very rich, loaded with cattle and silver and gold. He moved on from the Negev, camping along the way, to Bethel, the place he had first set up his tent between Bethel and Ai and built his first altar. Abram prayed there to God . Lot, who was traveling with Abram, was also rich in sheep and cattle and tents. But the land couldn't support both of them; they had too many possessions. They couldn't both live there—quarrels broke out between Abram's shepherds and Lot's shepherds. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living on the land at the time. Abram said to Lot, "Let's not have fighting between us, between your shepherds and my shepherds. After all, we're family. Look around. Isn't there plenty of land out there? Let's separate. If you go left, I'll go right; if you go right, I'll go left." Lot looked. He saw the whole plain of the Jordan spread out, well watered (this was before God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah), like God 's garden, like Egypt, and stretching all the way to Zoar. Lot took the whole plain of the Jordan. Lot set out to the east. That's how they came to part company, uncle and nephew. Abram settled in Canaan; Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent near Sodom.

Genesis 19:26
But Lot's wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

Exodus 2:14
The man shot back: "Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? Are you going to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian?" Then Moses panicked: "Word's gotten out—people know about this."

1 Samuel 17:44
"Come on," said the Philistine. "I'll make roadkill of you for the buzzards. I'll turn you into a tasty morsel for the field mice."

Proverbs 14:16
The wise watch their steps and avoid evil; fools are headstrong and reckless.

Proverbs 17:12
Better to meet a grizzly robbed of her cubs than a fool hellbent on folly.

Proverbs 27:3
Carrying a log across your shoulders while you're hefting a boulder with your arms Is nothing compared to the burden of putting up with a fool.

Matthew 7:6
"Don't be flip with the sacred. Banter and silliness give no honor to God. Don't reduce holy mysteries to slogans. In trying to be relevant, you're only being cute and inviting sacrilege.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day,.... A phrase often met with before, and signifies the putting in practice the several laws, moral, ceremonial, and judicial, which Moses was now making a repetition of, and enjoining the observance of them by a divine authority:

to love the Lord thy God; which is the source and spring of genuine obedience to the commands of God:

and to walk ever in his ways; noting constancy and perseverance in them; now all this is mentioned as the condition of the enlargement of their coast, which would be the case if a due and constant regard was had to the laws of God:

and then shall thou add three cities more besides these three; three more in the land of Canaan, besides the three now ordered to be separated in it, and besides the three on the other side of Jordan; so that there would have been nine in all, if these had been ever added; but that time never came: the Jews expect the addition of these three cities in the days of the Messiah y but the Messiah is already come, and all those cities, as they were typical of him, have had their accomplishment in him the antitype of them, of which

:-.

y Maimon. Hilchot Rotzeach, c. 8. sect. 4.

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 19:9. Shalt thou add three cities more — This was afterwards found necessary, and accordingly six cities were appointed, three on either side Jordan. See Joshua 21:1-3, c. In imitation of these cities of refuge the heathens had their asyla, and the Catholics their privileged altars. Exodus 21:13; Exodus 21:13 "Exodus 21:14"; and "Numbers 35:11", &c.