Numbers 35

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said,

And the Lord spoke to Moses to the west of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

2 “Command the people of Israel to give some of their own shares of land to the Levites. They must give them cities to live in and pastureland surrounding those cities.

Give orders to the children of Israel, and they shall give to the Levites cities to dwell in from the lot of their possession, and they shall give to the Levites the suburbs of the cities round about them.

3 The Levites will have these cities to live in. The pastureland will be for their cattle, their flocks, and all their animals.

And the cities shall be for them to dwell in, and their enclosures shall be for their cattle and all their beasts.

4 The pasturelands around the cities that you will give to the Levites must extend from the city walls for one thousand cubits in every direction.

And the suburbs of the cities which ye shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outwards two thousand cubits round about.

5 You must measure two thousand cubits from outside the city on the east side, and two thousand cubits to the south side, two thousand cubits to the west side, and two thousand cubits to the north side. This will be the pasturelands for their cities. The cities will be in the center.

And thou shalt measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and your city shall be in the midst of this, and the suburbs of the cities [as described].

6 Six of the cities that you will give to Levites must serve as cities of refuge. You must provide these as places to which a person who has killed someone can flee. Also provide forty-two other cities.

And ye shall give the cities to the Levites, the six cities of refuge which ye shall give for the slayer to flee thither, and in addition to these, forty-two cities.

7 The cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight. You must give their pasturelands with them.

Ye shall give to the Levites in all forty-eight cities, them and their suburbs.

8 The larger tribes of the people of Israel, the tribes that have more land, must provide more cities. The smaller tribes will provide fewer cities. Each tribe must provide for the Levites according to the share that it has received.”

And as for the cities which ye shall give out of the possession of the children of Israel, from those [that have] much [ye shall give] much, and from those that have less ye shall give less: they shall give of their cities to the Levites each one according to his inheritance which they shall inherit.

9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, Ye are to cross over Jordan into the land of Chanaan.

11 then you must choose cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, a place to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

And ye shall appoint to yourselves cities: they shall be to you cities of refuge for the slayer to flee to, every one who has killed another unintentionally.

12 These cities must be your refuge from the avenger, so that the accused man will not be killed without first standing trial before the community.

And the cities shall be to you places of refuge from the avenger of blood, and the slayer shall not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

13 You must choose six cities as cities of refuge.

And the cities which ye shall assign, [even] the six cities, shall be places of refuge for you.

14 You must provide three cities beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge.

Ye shall assign three cities on the other side of Jordan, and ye shall assign three cities in the land of Chanaan.

15 For the people of Israel, for the foreigners, for anyone living among you, these six cities will serve as a refuge to which anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee.

It shall be a place of refuge for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for him that sojourns among you; these cities shall be for a place of refuge, for every one to flee thither who has killed a man unintentionally.

16 But if an accused man has struck his victim with an instrument of iron, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

And if he should smite him with an iron instrument, and the man should die, he is a murderer; let the murderer by all means be put to death.

17 If an accused man has struck his victim with a stone in his hand that might kill the victim, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

And if he should smite him with a stone [thrown] from his hand, whereby a man may die, and he [thus] die, he is a murderer; let the murderer by all means be put to death.

18 If an accused man has struck his victim with a wooden weapon that might kill the victim, and if the victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

And if he should smite him with an instrument of wood from his hand, whereby he may die, and he [thus] die, he is a murderer; let the murderer by all means be put to death.

19 The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death. When he meets him, the avenger of blood must put him to death.

The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: whensoever he shall meet him he shall slay him.

20 If he strikes another in hatred or throws something at him, while hiding to ambush him, so that the victim dies,

And if he should thrust him through enmity, or cast any thing upon him from an ambuscade, and the man should die,

21 or if he strikes him down in hatred with his hand so that the victim dies, then the accused who struck him must surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death when he meets him.

or if he have smitten him with his hand through anger, and the man should die, let the man that smote him be put to death by all means, he is a murderer: let the murderer by all means be put to death: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he meets him.

22 But if an accused man suddenly hits a victim without premeditated hate or throws something that hits the victim without lying in wait

But if he should thrust him suddenly, not through enmity, or cast any thing upon him, not from an ambuscade,

23 or if he throws a stone that could kill a victim without seeing the victim, then the accused was not the victim's enemy; he was not trying to hurt the victim. But this is what to do if the victim dies anyway.

or [smite him] with any stone, whereby a man may die, unawares, and it should fall upon him, and he should die, but he was not his enemy, nor sought to hurt him;

24 In that case, the community must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood on the basis of these rules.

then the assembly shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood, according to these judgments.

25 The community must rescue the accused from the power of the avenger of blood. The community must return the accused to the city of refuge to which he had originally fled. He must live there until the death of the current high priest, the one who was anointed with the holy oil.

And the congregation shall rescue the slayer from the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he fled for refuge; and he shall dwell there till the death of the high-priest, whom they anointed with the holy oil.

26 But if the accused man at any time goes beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he fled,

But if the slayer should in any wise go out beyond the bounds of the city whither he fled for refuge,

27 and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and if he kills the accused man, the avenger of blood will not be guilty of murder.

and the avenger of blood should find him without the bounds of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood should kill the slayer, he is not guilty.

28 This is because the accused man should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the accused may return to the land where he has his own property.

For he ought to have remained in the city of refuge till the high-priest died; and after the death of the high-priest the slayer shall return to the land of his possession.

29 These laws must be statutes for you through all your people's generations in all the places where you live.

And these things shall be to you for an ordinance of judgment throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be killed, as testified to by the words of witnesses. But one witness' word alone may not cause any person to be put to death.

Whoever kills a man, thou shalt slay the murderer on the testimony of witnesses; and one witness shall not testify against a soul that he should die.

31 Also, you must not accept ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of murder. He must certainly be put to death.

And ye shall not accept ransoms for life from a murderer who is worthy of death, for he shall be surely put to death.

32 You must not accept ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge. You must not in this way allow him to reside on his own property until the high priest dies.

Ye shall not accept a ransom [to excuse] his fleeing to the city of refuge, so that he should again dwell in the land, until the death of the high-priest.

33 Do not pollute in this way the land where you live, because blood from murder pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land when blood has been shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

So shall ye not pollute with murder the land in which ye dwell; for this blood pollutes the land, and the land shall not be purged from the blood shed upon it, but by the blood of him that shed it.

34 So you must not defile the land in which you live because I am living in it. I, Yahweh, live among the people of Israel.'”

And ye shall not defile the land whereon ye dwell, on which I dwell in the midst of you; for I am the Lord dwelling in the midst of the children of Israel.