THE CITIES OF REFUGE (continued)
22 “But suppose someone pushes another person without having shown previous hostility, or throws something that unintentionally hits another person,
23 or accidentally drops a huge stone on someone, though they were not enemies, and the person dies.
24 If this should happen, the community must follow these regulations in making a judgment between the slayer and the avenger, the victim’s nearest relative:
25 The community must protect the slayer from the avenger and must escort the slayer back to live in the city of refuge to which he fled. There he must remain until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the sacred oil.
26 “But if the slayer ever leaves the limits of the city of refuge,
27 and the avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered murder.
28 The slayer should have stayed inside the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to his own property.
29 These are legal requirements for you to observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live.
30 “All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
31 Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death.
32 And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest.
33 This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder.
34 You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”
ACTS 7:1-16
STEPHEN'S SPEECH
1 Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these accusations true?”
2 This was Stephen’s reply: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me. Our glorious God appeared to our ancestor Abraham in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran.
3 God told him, ‘Leave your native land and your relatives, and come into the land that I will show you.’
4 So Abraham left the land of the Chaldeans and lived in Haran until his father died. Then God brought him here to the land where you now live.
5 “But God gave him no inheritance here, not even one square foot of land. God did promise, however, that eventually the whole land would belong to Abraham and his descendants—even though he had no children yet.
6 God also told him that his descendants would live in a foreign land, where they would be oppressed as slaves for 400 years.
7 'But I will punish the nation that enslaves them,’ God said, ‘and in the end they will come out and worship me here in this place.’
8 “God also gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision at that time. So when Abraham became the father of Isaac, he circumcised him on the eighth day. And the practice was continued when Isaac became the father of Jacob, and when Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs of the Israelite nation.
9 “These patriarchs were jealous of their brother Joseph, and they sold him to be a slave in Egypt. But God was with him
10 and rescued him from all his troubles. And God gave him favor before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. God also gave Joseph unusual wisdom, so that Pharaoh appointed him governor over all of Egypt and put him in charge of the palace.
11 “But a famine came upon Egypt and Canaan. There was great misery, and our ancestors ran out of food.
12 Jacob heard that there was still grain in Egypt, so he sent his sons—our ancestors—to buy some.
13 The second time they went, Joseph revealed his identity to his brothers, and they were introduced to Pharaoh.
14 Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and all his relatives to come to Egypt, seventy-five persons in all.
15 So Jacob went to Egypt. He died there, as did our ancestors.
16 Their bodies were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb Abraham had bought for a certain price from Hamor’s sons in Shechem.
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