Numbers 35

Cities for the Levites

35And the Lord spoke to Moses in ^athe plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, saying: ^2b“Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites ^ccommon-land around the cities. ³They shall have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals. ⁴The common-land of the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. ⁵And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as common-land for the cities.

⁶“Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint ^dsix cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities. ⁷So all the cities you will give to the Levites shall be ^eforty-eight; these you shall give with their common-land. ⁸And the cities which you will give shall be ^ffrom the possession of the children of Israel; ^gfrom the larger tribe you shall give many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance that each receives.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ^h‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹then ⁱyou shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. ^12jThey shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. ¹³And of the cities which you give, you shall have ^ksix cities of refuge. ^14lYou shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. ¹⁵These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, ^mfor the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.

¹⁶ⁿ‘But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^19oThe ¹avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ^20pIf he pushes him out of hatred or, ^qwhile lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, ²¹or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²‘However, if he pushes him suddenly ^rwithout enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, ²³or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, ²⁴then ^sthe congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. ²⁵So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and ^the shall remain there until the death of the high priest ^uwho was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, ²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of ²blood, ²⁸because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

²⁹‘And these things shall be ^va statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³⁰Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^wtestimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. ³¹Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. ³²And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. ³³So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood ^xdefiles the land, and no ³atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except ^yby the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴Therefore ^zdo not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for ^aI the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”