Numbers 35

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

And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,

2 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.

Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.

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

These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts,

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

Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.

5 And you shall 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].

The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.

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

And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.

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

Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them.

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

And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

And the Lord said to Moses,

10 Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, You are to cross over Jordan into the land of Chanaan.

Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

11 And you 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.

Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.

12 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.

In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.

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

Six of the towns which you give will be such safe places;

14 You shall assign three cities on the other side of Jordan, and you shall assign three cities in the land of Chanaan.

Three on the other side of Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, to be safe places for flight.

15 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 there who has killed a man unintentionally.

For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.

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

But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

17 And if he should strike 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.

Or if he gives him a blow with a stone in his hand, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

18 And if he should strike 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.

Or if he gave him blows with a wood instrument in his hands, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

19 The avenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer: whenever he shall meet him he shall kill him.

He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

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

If in his hate he put a sword through him, or waiting secretly for him sent a spear or stone at him, causing his death;

21 or if he have struck him with his hand through anger, and the man should die, let the man that struck 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 kill the murderer when he meets him.

Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

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

But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,

23 or [strike 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;

Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:

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

Then let the meeting of the people be judge between the man responsible for the death and him who has the right of punishment for blood, acting by these rules:

25 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.

And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.

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

But if ever he goes outside the walls of the safe town where he had gone in flight,

27 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.

And the giver of punishment, meeting him outside the walls of the town, puts him to death, he will not be responsible for his blood:

28 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.

Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.

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

These rules are to be your guide in judging through all your generations wherever you may be living.

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

Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.

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

Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.

32 You 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.

And no price may be offered for one who has gone in flight to a safe town, for the purpose of letting him come back to his place before the death of the high priest.

33 So shall you not pollute with murder the land in which you 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.

So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

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

Do not make unclean the land where you are living and in which is my House: for I the Lord am present among the children of Israel.