Numbers 35:9–28

⁹Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰“Tell the Israelites these things: ‘When you cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan, ¹¹you must choose cities to be cities of safety, so that a person who accidentally kills someone may run to them for safety. ¹²There the person will be safe from the dead person’s relative who has the duty of punishing the killer. He will not die before he receives a fair trial in court. ¹³The six cities you give will be cities of safety. ¹⁴Give three cities east of the Jordan River and three cities in Canaan as cities of safety. ¹⁵These six cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel, as well as for foreigners and other people living with you. Any of these people who accidentally kills someone may run to one of these cities.

¹⁶“ ‘Anyone who uses an iron weapon to kill someone is a murderer. He must be put to death. ¹⁷Anyone who takes a rock and kills a person with it is a murderer. He must be put to death. ¹⁸Anyone who picks up a piece of wood and kills someone with it is a murderer. He must be put to death. ¹⁹A relative of the dead person must put the murderer to death; when they meet, the relative must kill the murderer. ²⁰A person might shove someone or throw something at someone and cause death. ²¹Or a person might hit someone with his hand and cause death. If it were done from hate, the person is a murderer and must be put to death. A relative of the dead person must kill the murderer when they meet.

²²“ ‘But a person might suddenly shove someone, and not from hatred. Or a person might accidentally throw something and hit someone. ²³Or a person might drop a rock on someone he couldn’t see and kill that person. There was no plan to hurt anyone and no hatred for the one who was killed. ²⁴If that happens, the community must judge between the relative of the dead person and the killer, according to these rules. ²⁵They must protect the killer from the dead person’s relative, sending the killer back to the original city of safety, to stay there until the high priest dies (the high priest had the holy oil poured on him).

²⁶“ ‘Such a person must never go outside the limits of the city of safety. ²⁷If a relative of the dead person finds the killer outside the city, the relative may kill that person and not be guilty of murder. ²⁸The killer must stay in the city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, the killer may go home.