Deuteronomio 19

EL LIBRO DEL PUEBLO DE DIOS	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 cuando el Señor, tu Dios, haya extirpado a las naciones cuyo territorio te entrega, y cuando tú las hayas desposeido y vivas en sus ciudades y en sus casas,	1 “When the Lord your God will have destroyed the nations, whose land he will deliver to you, and when you possess it and live in its cities and buildings,
2 deberás poner aparte tres ciudades en medio del territorio que el Señor, tu Dios. te dará en posesión.	2 you shall separate for yourselves three cities in the midst of the land, which the Lord will give to you as a possession,
3 Medirás convenientemente las distancias y dividirás en tres partes el país que el Señor, tu Dios te dará como herencia, para que allí pueda refugiarse el que haya cometido un homicidio.	3 paving the road carefully. And you shall divide the entire province of your land equally into three parts, so that he who is forced to flee because of manslaughter may have a place nearby to which he may be able to escape.
4 Pero sólo en el caso siguiente: el homicida podrá salvarse huyendo a una de esas ciudades si mató a su prójimo involuntariamente, sin haberlo odiado antes.	4 This shall be the law of the killer who flees, whose life is to be saved. Whoever strikes down his neighbor unwillingly, and who has been proven to have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before,
5 Por ejemplo, si un hombre va a cortar leña al bosque en compañía de otro, y al empuñar el hacha para cortar un árbol, el hierro se suelta del mango y golpea a su acompañante, provocándole la muerte, el homicida irá a refugiarse en una de esas ciudades y así pondrá a salvo su vida.	5 such that he had gone with him into the forest simply to cut wood, and in cutting down the tree, the axe slipped from his hand, or the iron slipped from the handle, and it struck his friend and killed him: he shall flee to one of the cities stated above, and he shall live.
6 Es preciso evitar que el vengador del homicidio persiga lleno de furor al homicida, lo alcance –ya que el camino es muy largo– y le quite la vida, siendo así que no es reo de muerte, porque nunca fue enemigo de su víctima.	6 Otherwise, perhaps the near relative of him whose blood was shed, impelled by his grief, might pursue and apprehend him, unless the way is too long, and he might strike down the life of him who is not guilty unto death, since he had demonstrated that he had no prior hatred against him who was slain.
7 Por eso te ordeno que pongas aparte esas tres ciudades.	7 For this reason, I instruct you to separate three cities at equal distance from one another.
8 Si el Señor, tu Dios, extiende tus fronteras como lo juró a tus padres, y te da toda la tierra que les prometió	8 And when the Lord your God will have enlarged your borders, just as he swore to your fathers, and when he will have given to you all the land that he has promised to them,
9 –siempre que te empeñes en cumplir integramente el mandamiento que hoy te prescribo de amar al Señor, tu Dios, y seguir sus caminos– entonces, a esas tres ciudades les añadirás otras tres.	9 (but this is only so if you will keep his commandments and do the things which I instruct to you this day, so that you love the Lord your God, and walk in his ways at all times) you shall add for yourselves three other cities, and so you shall double the number of the three cities stated above.
10 Así no se derramará sangre inocente en medio del país que el Señor, tu Dios, te da como herencia, y tú no te harás culpable de un derramamiento de sangre.	10 So may innocent blood not be shed in the midst of the land which the Lord your God will give you to possess, lest you be guilty of blood.
11 Pero si alguien, impulsado por el odio, tiende a su prójimo una emboscada, y arrojándose sobre él, lo hiere mortalmente, y luego va a refugiarse en una de esas ciudades,	11 But if anyone, having hatred for his neighbor, will have lain in ambush for his life, and, rising up, will have struck him, and he will have died, and if he will have fled to one of the cities stated above,
12 los ancianos de su ciudad lo harán apresar y lo pondrán en manos del vengador del homicidio, para que muera.	12 the elders of his city shall send, and they shall take him from the place of refuge, and they shall deliver him into the hand of the relative of him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.
13 No le tendrás compasión, sino que harás desaparecer de Israel todo derramamiento de sangre inocente. Así serás feliz.	13 You shall not take pity on him, and so shall you take away the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may be well with you.
14 No desplazarás los límites de la propiedad de tu vecino, los que han establecido los predecesores, en la herencia que recibirás cuando tomes posesión de la tierra que te da el Señor, tu Dios.	14 You shall not take up or move the landmark of your neighbor, which those before you have placed, in your possession that the Lord your God will give to you, in the land you will receive to possess.
15 No basta un solo testigo para declarar a un hombre culpable de crimen o delito; cualquiera sea la índole del delito, la sentencia deberá fundarse en la declaración de dos o más testigos.	15 One witness shall not stand against another, no matter what the sin or outrage may be. For every word shall stand by the mouth of two or three witnesses.
16 Si un falso testigo se levanta contra un hombre y lo acusa de rebeldía,	16 If a lying witness will have stood against a man, accusing him of a transgression,
17 las dos partes en litigio comparecerán delante del Señor, en presencia de los sacerdotes y de los jueces en ejercicio.	17 both of those whose case it is shall stand before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges who shall be in those days.
18 Los jueces investigarán el caso cuidadosamente, y si se pone de manifiesto que el acusador es un testigo falso y a atestiguado falsamente contra su hermano.	18 And when, after a very diligent examination, they will have found that the false witness had told a lie against his brother,
19 le harán a él lo mismo que él había proyectado hacer contra su hermano. Así harás desaparecer el mal de entre ustedes.	19 they shall render to him just as he intended to do to his brother. And so shall you take away the evil from your midst.
20 Y cuando se enteren los otros, sentirán temor y no volverá a cometerse esta infamia entre ustedes.	20 Then the others, upon hearing this, will be afraid, and they will by no means dare to do such things.
21 No tendrás compasión: vida por vida, ojo por ojo, diente por diente, mano por mano, pie por pie.	21 You shall not take pity on him. Instead, you shall require a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot.”