Deuteronomy 19:17
Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days; Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
Deuteronomy is the fifth and last book of the Pentateuch, made up mainly of three addresses given by Moses just before his death, and this verse falls in chapters 5 to 26 which review the law for the new generation, from which the book is called Deuteronomy meaning second law or duplicate of the law, and it is appointed to be read with Deuteronomy 18 to 21 on March 4. The chapter gives the law of blood revenge in restricted form, showing that this law existed in patriarchal times and was later regulated in the Mosaic code.
The verse belongs to the rule that a disputed matter must be established by two or three witnesses, not by one alone. It belongs to the law requiring witnesses in a criminal case to agree. Both men between whom the controversy lies are to stand before the LORD, before the priests and the judges serving in those days, who hear the matter under God's law when witnesses bring a charge.
In the case of an alleged murder, this appearance is part of a fair legal trial held after witnesses are summoned and the accusers have time to appear. The law guarded fair trial in homicide cases connected with the cities of refuge, where both the unwitting slayer and the accused murderer were tried, and the willful murderer found guilty was delivered up to be slain. A witness guilty of false testimony and perjury must accept and suffer the punishment due, matching the harm he intended to bring on the accused and the same punishment that would have fallen on the one against whom he testified if that one had been convicted.