Numbers 35:6–15

Cities of Refuge

⁶“And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the ^asix cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

⁷“All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be ^aforty-eight cities, ¹together with their pasture lands.

⁸“^aNow as for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”

⁹Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁰“^aSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

^11athen you shall select for yourselves cities to be your ^bcities of refuge, that the manslayer who has struck down any person ^cunintentionally may flee there.

¹²‘^aAnd the cities shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

¹³‘And the cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge.

¹⁴‘You ^ashall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities ¹in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge.

¹⁵‘These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel and for the sojourner and for the foreign resident among them; that anyone who strikes a person down ^aunintentionally may flee there.