Numbers 35:6–15

⁶And among the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither, —and besides them ye shall give forty-two cities: ⁷all the cities that ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their suburbs. ⁸And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have much ye shall take much, and from them that have little ye shall take little; each one according to his inheritance which he will inherit shall give of his cities to the Levites.

⁹And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹then ye shall appoint for yourselves cities: cities of refuge shall they be for you; that a manslayer may flee thither, who without intent smiteth a person mortally. ¹²And ye shall have these cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the assembly in judgment. ¹³And the cities that ye shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you. ¹⁴Three cities shall ye give on this side of the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. ¹⁵For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them shall these six cities be a refuge, that one who smiteth a person mortally without intent may flee thither.