Numbers 35:9–28

Cities of Refuge

⁹The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. ^k12You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, ^lso that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. ¹³The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge. ^m15These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶“If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. ⁿ¹⁷If a man has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁸If a man has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁹The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him. ^o20Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies, ²¹or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him.

²²“But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent ²³or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and wasn’t trying to harm him, ²⁴the assembly is to judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. ²⁵The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. ^p

²⁶“If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to, ²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, ²⁸for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses.