Deuteronomy 19 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

When Yahweh your God has wiped out the nations whose land Yahweh your God is giving you, and you've displaced them and settled in their cities and houses,

you are to set aside three cities for yourselves in the middle of the land that Yahweh your God is giving you to take possession of.

You are to prepare the roads and divide the territory of the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance into three sections, so that anyone who kills a person can flee there.

Here is the rule for someone who kills another person and flees there to save his life — someone who strikes his neighbor without meaning to, when he had no prior hatred toward him:

For example, a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood, and as he swings the axe to cut down a tree, the iron head flies off the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies—that man may flee to one of these cities and save his life.

Otherwise, the blood avenger might chase the killer in the heat of his anger, and because the distance is too far, catch up with him and strike him dead — even though he didn't deserve a death sentence, since he had no prior hatred toward his neighbor.

That's why I'm commanding you: set aside three cities.

And if Yahweh your God expands your territory, just as he swore to your ancestors, and gives you all the land he promised to give them —

provided you carefully keep this entire set of commands I'm giving you today, loving Yahweh your God and walking in his ways for all time — then you are to add three more cities to these three.

This way, innocent blood won't be shed in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you as an inheritance, and you won't bear the guilt of bloodshed.

But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him, ambushes him, and strikes him fatally so that he dies, and then flees to one of these cities—

the elders of his own city must send for him, bring him back from there, and hand him over to the blood avenger to be put to death.

Show him no pity. You must purge the guilt of innocent bloodshed from Israel so that things will go well for you.

You must not move your neighbor's boundary marker, which was set in place by previous generations in the inheritance you will receive in the land that Yahweh your God is giving you to possess.

A single witness must not stand against a person for any wrongdoing or offense, whatever the offense may be. A charge must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

If a malicious witness takes the stand against someone, accusing them of a crime,

both parties in the dispute must stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who are serving at that time.

The judges must investigate thoroughly. If the witness turns out to be a liar who gave false testimony against his fellow Israelite,

then you must do to him exactly what he intended to do to his fellow Israelite. You must purge this kind of wrong from among you.

The rest of the people will hear about it and be afraid, and no one among you will ever do such a wrong thing again.

Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.