The Cities of Refuge

191 When the nations, whose land the Lord your God is giving you, have been cut off by him, and you have taken their place and are living in their towns and in their houses; 2 You are to have three towns marked out in the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage. 3 You are to make ready a way, and see that the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, is marked out into three parts, to which any taker of life may go in flight. 4 This is to be the rule for anyone who goes in flight there, after causing the death of his neighbour in error and not through hate; 5 For example, if a man goes into the woods with his neighbour for the purpose of cutting down trees, and when he takes his axe to give a blow to the tree, the head of the axe comes off, and falling on to his neighbour gives him a wound causing his death; then the man may go in flight to one of these towns and be safe: 6 For if not, he who has the right of punishment may go running after the taker of life in the heat of his wrath, and overtake him because the way is long, and give him a death-blow; though it is not right for him to be put to death because he was not moved by hate. 7 And so I am ordering you to see that three towns are marked out for this purpose. 8 And if the Lord your God makes wide the limits of your land, as he said in his oath to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he undertook to give to your fathers; 9 If you keep and do all these orders which I give you today, loving the Lord your God and walking ever in his ways; then let three more towns, in addition to these three, be marked out for you: 10 So that in all your land, which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, no man may be wrongly put to death, for which you will be responsible. 11 But if any man has hate for his neighbour, and waiting for him secretly makes an attack on him and gives him a blow causing his death, and then goes in flight to one of these towns; 12 The responsible men of his town are to send and take him, and give him up to the one who has the right of punishment to be put to death. 13 Have no pity on him, so that Israel may be clear from the crime of putting a man to death without cause, and it will be well for you.

14 Your neighbour's landmark, which was put in its place by the men of old times, is not to be moved or taken away in the land of your heritage which the Lord your God is giving you.

The Law concerning Witnesses

15 One witness may not make a statement against a man in relation to any sin or wrongdoing which he has done: on the word of two or three witnesses a question is to be judged. 16 If a false witness makes a statement against a man, saying that he has done wrong, 17 Then the two men, between whom the argument has taken place, are to come before the Lord, before the priests and judges who are then in power; 18 And the judges will have the question looked into with care: and if the witness is seen to be false and to have made a false statement against his brother, 19 Then do to him what it was his purpose to do to his brother: and so put away the evil from among you. 20 And the rest of the people, hearing of it, will be full of fear, and never again do such evil among you. 21 Have no pity; let life be given for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

The Laws concerning War

201 When you go out to war against other nations, and come face to face with horses and war-carriages and armies greater in number than yourselves, have no fear of them: for the Lord your God is with you, who took you up out of the land of Egypt. 2 And when you are on the point of attacking, let the priest come forward and say to the people, 3 Give ear, O Israel: today you are going forward to the fight; let your heart be strong; do not let uncontrolled fear overcome you because of those who are against you; 4 For the Lord your God goes with you, fighting for you to give you salvation from those who are against you. 5 And let the overseers say to the people, If there is any man who has made for himself a new house and has not gone into it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not take his house for himself. 6 Or if any man has made a vine-garden without taking the first-fruits of it, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another may not be the first to make use of the fruit. 7 Or if any man is newly married and has had no sex relations with his wife, let him go back to his house, so that in the event of his death in the fight, another man may not take her. 8 And let the overseers go on to say to the people, If there is any man whose heart is feeble with fear, let him go back to his house before he makes the hearts of his countrymen feeble. 9 Then, after saying these words to the people, let the overseers put captains over the army.

10 When you come to a town, before attacking it, make an offer of peace. 11 And if it gives you back an answer of peace, opening its doors to you, then all the people in it may be put to forced work as your servants. 12 If however it will not make peace with you, but war, then let it be shut in on all sides: 13 And when the Lord your God has given it into your hands, let every male in it be put to death without mercy. 14 But the women and the children and the cattle and everything in the town and all its wealth, you may take for yourselves: the wealth of your haters, which the Lord your God has given you, will be your food. 15 So you are to do to all the towns far away, which are not the towns of these nations. 16 But in the towns of these peoples whose land the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage, let no living thing be kept from death: 17 Give them up to the curse; the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has given you orders: 18 So that you may not take them as your example and do all the disgusting things which they do in the worship of their gods, so sinning against the Lord your God. 19 If in war a town is shut in by your armies for a long time, do not let its trees be cut down and made waste; for their fruit will be your food; are the trees of the countryside men for you to take up arms against them? 20 Only those trees which you are certain are not used for food may be cut down and put to destruction: and you are to make walls of attack against the town till it is taken.

Settlement for an Unknown Murderer's Crime

211 If, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you come across the dead body of a man in the open country, and you have no idea who has put him to death: 2 Then your responsible men and your judges are to come out, and give orders for the distance from the dead body to the towns round about it to be measured; 3 And whichever town is nearest to the body, the responsible men of that town are to take from the herd a young cow which has never been used for work or put under the yoke; 4 And they are to take the cow into a valley where there is flowing water, and which is not ploughed or planted, and there the neck of the cow is to be broken: 5 Then the priests, the sons of Levi, are to come near; for they have been marked out by the Lord your God to be his servants and to give blessings in the name of the Lord; and by their decision every argument and every blow is to be judged: 6 And all the responsible men of that town which is nearest to the dead man, washing their hands over the cow whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 Will say, This death is not the work of our hands and our eyes have not seen it. 8 Have mercy, O Lord, on your people Israel whom you have made free, and take away from your people the crime of a death without cause. Then they will no longer be responsible for the man's death. 9 So you will take away the crime of a death without cause from among you, when you do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Various Laws

10 When you go out to war against other nations, and the Lord your God gives them up into your hands and you take them as prisoners; 11 If among the prisoners you see a beautiful woman and it is your desire to make her your wife; 12 Then take her back to your house; and let her hair and her nails be cut; 13 And let her take off the dress in which she was made prisoner and go on living in your house and weeping for her father and mother for a full month: and after that you may go in to her and be her husband and she will be your wife. 14 But if you have no delight in her, you are to let her go wherever she will; you may not take a price for her as if she was your property, for you have made use of her for your pleasure.

15 If a man has two wives, one greatly loved and the other hated, and the two of them have had children by him; and if the first son is the child of the hated wife: 16 Then when he gives his property to his sons for their heritage, he is not to put the son of his loved one in the place of the first son, the son of the hated wife: 17 But he is to give his first son his birthright, and twice as great a part of his property: for he is the first-fruits of his strength and the right of the first son is his.

18 If a man has a son who is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, who gives no attention to the voice of his father and mother, and will not be ruled by them, though they give him punishment: 19 Then let his father and mother take him to the responsible men of the town, to the public place; 20 And say to them, This son of ours is hard-hearted and uncontrolled, he will not give attention to us; he gives himself up to pleasure and strong drink. 21 Then he is to be stoned to death by all the men of the town: so you are to put away the evil from among you; and all Israel, hearing of it, will be full of fear. 22 If a man does a crime for which the punishment is death, and he is put to death by hanging him on a tree; 23 Do not let his body be on the tree all night, but put it to rest in the earth the same day; for the man who undergoes hanging is cursed by God; so do not make unclean the land which the Lord your God is giving you for your heritage.

21 And then if any man says to you, See, here is Christ; or, See, there; have no faith in it: 22 Because there will be false Christs and false prophets, and they will give signs and wonders in the hope of turning even the saints from the true way. 23 But take care; see, I have made all things clear to you before the time.

The Coming of the Son of Man

24 But in those days, after that time of trouble, the sun will be made dark and the moon will not give her light, 25 And the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers which are in the heavens will be moved. 26 And then they will see the Son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels, and will get together his saints from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.

28 Take an example from the fig-tree: when its branches become soft and put out their leaves, you see that the summer is near; 29 Even so, when you see these things taking place, you may be certain that he is near, even at the doors. 30 Truly, I say to you, This generation will not come to an end till all these things are complete. 31 Heaven and earth will come to an end, but my words will not come to an end. 32 But of that day or that hour no one has knowledge, not even the angels in heaven, or the Son, but the Father. 33 Take care, keep watch with prayer: for you are not certain when the time will be. 34 It is as when a man who is in another country for a time, having gone away from his house, and given authority to his servants and to everyone his work, gives the porter an order to keep watch. 35 So you are to keep watch: because you are not certain when the master of the house is coming, in the evening, or in the middle of the night, or at the cock's cry, or in the morning; 36 For fear that, coming suddenly, he sees you sleeping. 37 And what I say to you, I say to all, Keep watch.

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Mark 13:21-37

Commentary on Mark 13:14-23

(Read Mark 13:14-23)

The Jews in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, hastened their own ruin apace. Here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this. Such destruction and desolation, that the like cannot be found in any history. Promises of power to persevere, and cautions against falling away, well agree with each other. But the more we consider these things, the more we shall see abundant cause to flee without delay for refuge to Christ, and to renounce every earthly object, for the salvation of our souls.

Commentary on Mark 13:24-27

(Read Mark 13:24-27)

The disciples had confounded the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world. This mistake Christ set right, and showed that the day of Christ's coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation. Here he foretells the final dissolution of the present frame and fabric of the world. Also, the visible appearance of the Lord Jesus coming in the clouds, and the gathering together of all the elect to him.

Commentary on Mark 13:28-37

(Read Mark 13:28-37)

We have the application of this prophetic sermon. As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly. As to the end of the world, do not inquire when it will come, for of that day and that hour knoweth no man. Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of anything; but the Divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, communicated itself to his human soul according to the Divine pleasure. As to both, our duty is to watch and pray. Our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return. This applies to Christ's coming to us at our death, as well as to the general judgment. We know not whether our Master will come in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore we must expect death. Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he may not find us secure, indulging in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty. He says to all, Watch, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless.