LORD said to me: What they've said is right. 18I'll raise up a prophet for them from among their fellow Israelites--one just like you. I'll put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19I myself will hold accountable anyone who doesn't listen to my words, which that prophet will speak in my name. 20However, any prophet who arrogantly speaks a word in my name that I haven't commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods--that prophet must die.
21Now, you might be wondering, How will we know which word God hasn't spoken? 22Here's the answer: The prophet who speaks in the LORD's name and the thing doesn't happen or come about--that's the word the LORD hasn't spoken. That prophet spoke arrogantly. Don't be afraid of him.j
Cities of refuge
Deuteronomy 19Once the LORD your God has eliminated those nations--whose land the LORD your God is giving you--and you displace them, settling into their cities and their houses, 2you must designate three cities for your use in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3Mark out the roads to themk and divide the regions of the land the LORD your God is apportioning to you into three parts. These cities are the places to which a person who has killed can escape. 4Here is the rule concerning a person who killed someone and is permitted to escape to one of these cities and live:
If it is someone who killed his neighbor accidentally, without having hated that person previously; 5or if someone goes into the forest with a neighbor to chop some wood, and while swinging an ax to cut down the tree, the axhead flies off its handle and hits the neighbor, who subsequently dies--these kinds of killers may escape to one of these cities and live. 6Otherwise, the blood avenger will chase after the killer out of rage and--especially if the distance to one of these citiesl is too far--might catch and kill him, even though a death sentence was not in order because the killer didn't have prior malice toward the other. 7This is why I am commanding you as follows: Designate three cities for your use.
8Now if the LORD your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors--and he will give you all the land he swore to give to them 9as long as you keep all this commandment that I am giving you right now by doing it, by loving the LORD your God, and by always walking in his ways--you can add three more cities for your use along with the first three. 10Innocent blood must not be spilled in the land the LORD your God is giving to you as an inheritance, or it will be bloodshed that will be required of you.
11But if someone does hate a neighbor and ambushes him, rising up against him and attacking him so he dies, and then escapes to one of these cities, 12elders from the killer's hometown will send word, and the killer will be sent back from there. They will then hand him over to the blood avenger, and he will be executed. 13Show no mercy to such killers. Removem innocent bloodshed from Israel so that things go well for you.
Property laws
14Now in the land the LORD your God is giving you, in your allotted property that you will receive there, you must not tamper with your neighbor's property line, which has been previously established.
Rules for testimony
15A solitary witness against someone in any crime, wrongdoing, or in any sort of misdeed that might be done is not sufficient. The decision must stand by two or three witnesses. 16Now if a spiteful witness comes forward against someone, so as to testify against them falsely, 17the two persons who have a legal suit must stand before the LORD, before the priests, and before the judges that are in office at that time. 18The judges will look into the situation very carefully. If it turns out that the witness is a liar--that the witness has given false testimony against his fellow Israelite--19then you must do to him what he had planned to do to his fellow Israelite. Removen such evil from your community! 20The rest of the people will hear about this and be afraid. They won't do that sort of evil thing among you again. 21Show no mercy on this point: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
Rules for warfare
Deuteronomy 20When you march out to battle your enemies and you see horses, chariots, and a fighting force larger than yours, don't be afraid of them, because the LORD your God, the one who brought you up from Egypt, is with you. 2As you advance toward the war, the priest will come forward and will address the troops. 3He will say to them: "Listen, Israel: Right now you are advancing to wage war against your enemies. Don't be discouraged! Don't be afraid! Don't panic! Don't shake in fear on account of them,4because the LORD your God is going with you to fight your enemies for you and to save you."
5The officials will also say to the troops: "Is there anyone here who has just built a new house but hasn't yet dedicated it? He can leave and go back to his house; otherwise, he might die in the war and someone else would dedicate the house. 6Or is there anyone here who has planted a vineyard but hasn't yet put it to good use? He can leave and go back to his house; otherwise, he might die in the battle and someone else would use the vineyard. 7Or is there anyone here who is engaged but not yet married? He may leave and go back to his house; otherwise, he might die in the battle and someone else would marry his fiancée."
8The officials will continue to address the troops, stating: "Is there anyone here who is afraid and discouraged? He can leave and go back to his house; otherwise, his comrades might lose courage just as he has."9Once the officials have completed their speech to the troops, the army commanders will assume leadership of the forces.
10When you approach a city to fight against it, you should first extend peaceful terms to it. 11If the city responds with peaceful terms and surrenders to you, then all the people in the city will serve you as forced laborers. 12However, if the city does not negotiate peacefully with you but makes war against you, you may attack it. 13The LORD your God will hand it over to you; you must kill all the city's males with the sword. 14However, you can take for yourselves the women, the children, the animals, and all that is in the city--all its plunder. You can then enjoy your enemies' plunder, which the LORD your God has given you.
15That's what you must do to all the cities that are located far away from you--specifically, those cities that don't belong to these nations here. 16But in the case of any of the cities of these peoples--the ones the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance--you must not spare any living thing. 17Instead, you must place these under the ban:o Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites--just as the LORD your God commanded you. 18Then they can't teach you to do all the detestable things they did for their gods, with the result that you end up sinning against the LORD your God.
19Now if you have been attacking a city for some time, fighting against it and trying to conquer it, don't destroy its trees by cutting them down with axes. You can eat from those trees; don't cut them down! Do you think a tree of the field is some sort of warrior to be attacked by you in battle? 20That said, if you know that a tree is not a food-producing tree, you are allowed to destroy it, cutting it down and using it in the siege against the city that is fighting against you until it falls.
Unsolved homicides
Deuteronomy 21If a corpse is found on the ground the LORD your God is giving you to possess, lying in a field, and the identity of the killer is unknown, 2your elders and judges must come out and measure the distances to the cities nearest the body. 3Once it is determined which city is closest to the dead body, its elders must take a young cow that hasn't been used or yet pulled a plow, 4and those elders will take the cow down to a ravine with a flowing stream--one that has not been plowed or planted--and they will break the cow's neck right there in the river valley. 5Then the priests, the descendants of Levi,