Deuteronomy 19:7

Young's Literal Translation

therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Three cities thou dost separate to thee.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
This is why I am commanding you to set apart three cities for yourselves.

Hebrew Names Version
Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for you.

King James Version
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

Lexham English Bible
Therefore I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall set apart three cities.'

English Standard Version
Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities.

New Century Version
This is why I command you to choose these three cities.

New English Translation
Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

Amplified Bible
"Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside three cities [of refuge] for yourself.'

New American Standard Bible
"Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside for yourself three cities.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt appoint out three cities for thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, I am commanding you, saying, ‘You shall set apart three cities for yourself.'

Contemporary English Version
That's why I said there must be three Safe Towns.

Complete Jewish Bible
This is why I am ordering you to set aside for yourselves three cities.

Darby Translation
Therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thyself.

Easy-to-Read Version
That is why I commanded you to choose three special cities.

George Lamsa Translation
Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for you.

Good News Translation
This is why I order you to set aside three cities.

Literal Translation
On account of this I am commanding you, saying, You shall separate to yourself three cities.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore commaunde I the, that thou appoynte out thre cities.

American Standard Version
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee.

Bible in Basic English
And so I am ordering you to see that three towns are marked out for this purpose.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Wherfore I commaunde thee, saying: Thou shalt appoynt out three cities for thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
Wherefore I command thee, saying: 'Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.'

King James Version (1611)
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Therefore I charge thee, saying, Thou shalt separate for thy self three cities.

English Revised Version
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

Berean Standard Bible
This is why I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor Y comaunde to thee, that thou departe thre citees of euene space bitwixe hem silf.

Update Bible Version
Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for yourself.

Webster's Bible Translation
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee.

World English Bible
Therefore I command you, saying, You shall set apart three cities for you.

New King James Version
Therefore I command you, saying, "You shall separate three cities for yourself.'

New Living Translation
That is why I am commanding you to set aside three cities of refuge.

New Life Bible
So I tell you, ‘Set apart three cities for yourself.'

New Revised Standard
Therefore I command you: You shall set apart three cities.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For this cause, am I commanding thee saying, - Three cities, shalt thou set apart for thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at equal distance one from another.

Revised Standard Version
Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Therefore, I command you, saying, 'You shall set aside three cities for yourself.'

Contextual Overview

¹ `When Jehovah thy God doth cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God is giving to thee, and thou hast succeeded them, and dwelt in their cities, and in their houses, <sup>2</sup> three cities thou dost separate for thee in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee to possess it. <sup>3</sup> Thou dost prepare for thee the way, and hast divided into three parts the border of thy land which Jehovah thy God doth cause thee to inherit, and it hath been for the fleeing thither of every man-slayer. <sup>4</sup> `And this [is] the matter of the man-slayer who fleeth thither, and hath lived: He who smiteth his neighbour unknowingly, and is not hating him heretofore, ⁵ even he who cometh in with his neighbour into a forest to hew wood, and his hand hath driven with an axe to cut the tree, and the iron hath slipped from the wood, and hath met his neighbour, and he hath died -- he doth flee unto one of these cities, and hath lived, ⁶ lest the redeemer of blood pursue after the man-slayer when his heart is hot, and hath overtaken him (because the way is great), and hath smitten him -- the life, and he hath no sentence of death, for he is not hating him heretofore; ⁷ therefore I am commanding thee, saying, Three cities thou dost separate to thee. ⁸ `And if Jehovah thy God doth enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn to thy fathers, and hath given to thee all the land which He hath spoken to give to thy fathers -- ⁹ 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; ¹⁰ and innocent blood is not shed in the midst of thy land which Jehovah thy God is giving to thee -- an inheritance, and there hath been upon thee blood.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Cross-References

Genesis 19:4
Before they lie down, the men of the city -- men of Sodom -- have come round about against the house, from young even unto aged, all the people from the extremity;

Genesis 19:9
And they say, `Come nigh hither;' they say also, `This one hath come in to sojourn, and he certainly judgeth! now, we do evil to thee more than [to] them;' and they press against the man, against Lot greatly, and come nigh to break the door.

Genesis 19:11
and the men who [are] at the opening of the house they have smitten with blindness, from small even unto great, and they weary themselves to find the opening.

Genesis 19:23
The sun hath gone out on the earth, and Lot hath entered into Zoar,

Genesis 19:24
and Jehovah hath rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah, from the heavens;

Leviticus 18:22
`And with a male thou dost not lie as one lieth with a woman; abomination it [is].

Leviticus 20:13
`And a man who lieth with a male as one lieth with a woman; abomination both of them have done; they are certainly put to death; their blood [is] on them.

Deuteronomy 23:17
`There is not a whore among the daughters of Israel, nor is there a whoremonger among the sons of Israel;

Judges 19:23
And the man, the master of the house, goeth out unto them, and saith unto them, `Nay, my brethren, do not evil, I pray you, after that this man hath come in unto my house, do not this folly;

Acts 17:26
He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth -- having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings --

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Wherefore I command thee, saying, thou shalt separate three cities for thee. This was to be done immediately, as soon as they were settled in the land of Canaan, and established in the possession of it, the inhabitants being cut off, or driven out, or however subdued.

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.