Numbers 35:6–15

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.