Warnings about witnesses

15 “If someone is accused of committing a crime, one ◄witness/person who says, ‘I saw him do it’► is not enough. There must be at least two ◄witnesses/people who say, ‘We saw him do it’►. If there is only one witness, the judge must not believe that what he says is true.

16 “If someone tries to do wrong to another person by falsely accusing him, 17 both of them must go to the place where the people worship, to talk to the priests and judges who are serving at that time. 18 The judges must ◄investigate the case carefully/try to find out which one is telling the truth►. If the judges determine that one of them has accused the other falsely, 19 that person must be punished in the same way that the other one would have been punished if the judge decided that he ◄was guilty/had done what is wrong►. By punishing such people, you will get rid of this evil practice among you. 20 And/Because when that person is punished, everyone will hear what has happened, and they will be afraid, and no one will dare to act that way any more. 21 You must not pity people who are punished like that. The rule should be that a person who has murdered someone else must be executed; one of a person’s eyes must be gouged out if he has gouged out someone else’s eye, one tooth of a person who has knocked out the tooth of another person must be knocked out; one hand of a person who has cut off the hand of another person must likewise be cut off; one foot of a person who has cut off the foot of another person must also be cut off.”