⁶lest ^sthe avenger of blood in hot anger pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him fatally, though the man did not deserve to die, since he had not hated his neighbor in the past. ⁷Therefore I command you, You shall set apart three cities. ⁸^tAnd if the Lord your God enlarges your territory, ^uas he has sworn to your fathers, and ^vgives you all the land that he promised to give to your fathers— ⁹provided you are careful to keep all this commandment, which I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and by walking ever in his ways—^wthen you shall add three other cities to these three, ¹⁰lest innocent blood be shed in your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, and so the guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

¹¹“But if anyone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and attacks him ^xand strikes him fatally so that he dies, and he flees into one of these cities, ¹²then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die.

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Cross references

s Num. 35:12, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27
tch. 12:20
u Ex. 34:24; [Ex. 23:31]
vSee Gen. 15:18–21
wver. 2; [Josh. 20:7]
xch. 27:24; Ex. 21:12, 14; See Num. 35:16–21