Numbers 35

1 And the Lord also spoke these things to Moses in the plains of Moab, above the Jordan, opposite Jericho:

Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said,

2 “Instruct the sons of Israel, so that they may give to the Levites, from their possessions,

“Command the people of Israel to give some of their own shares of land to the Levites. They must give them cities to live in and pastureland surrounding those cities.

3 cities as dwelling places, with their surrounding suburbs, so that they may lodge in the towns, and so that the suburbs may be for cattle and beasts of burden.

The Levites will have these cities to live in. The pastureland will be for their cattle, their flocks, and all their animals.

4 The suburbs shall extend from the outer walls of the cities, all around, for the space of one thousand steps.

The pasturelands around the cities that you will give to the Levites must extend from the city walls for one thousand cubits in every direction.

5 Facing the east, there shall be two thousand cubits, and facing the south, similarly, there shall be two thousand cubits. Toward the sea, also, which looks out toward the west, there shall be the same measure, and the northern region shall be bounded by equal limits. And the cities shall be in the center, and the suburbs shall be outside.

You must measure two thousand cubits from outside the city on the east side, and two thousand cubits to the south side, two thousand cubits to the west side, and two thousand cubits to the north side. This will be the pasturelands for their cities. The cities will be in the center.

6 Now, from the towns which you shall give to the Levites, six shall be separated for the assistance of fugitives, so that he who has shed blood may flee to them. And, aside from these, there shall be forty-two other towns,

Six of the cities that you will give to Levites must serve as cities of refuge. You must provide these as places to which a person who has killed someone can flee. Also provide forty-two other cities.

7 that is, all together forty-eight with their suburbs.

The cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight. You must give their pasturelands with them.

8 And concerning these cities, which shall be given from the possessions of the sons of Israel: from those who have more, more shall be taken, and from those who have less, less shall be taken. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the measure of their inheritance.”

The larger tribes of the people of Israel, the tribes that have more land, must provide more cities. The smaller tribes will provide fewer cities. Each tribe must provide for the Levites according to the share that it has received.”

9 The Lord said to Moses:

Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: When you will have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11 discern which cities ought to be for the protection of fugitives who have shed blood unwillingly.

then you must choose cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, a place to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

12 And when a fugitive is in these, the kinsman of the deceased shall not be able to kill him, until he stands in the sight of the multitude and his case is judged.

These cities must be your refuge from the avenger, so that the accused man will not be killed without first standing trial before the community.

13 Then, among those cities which are separated for relief to fugitives,

You must choose six cities as cities of refuge.

14 three shall be across the Jordan, and three in the land of Canaan,

You must provide three cities beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge.

15 as much for the sons of Israel as for newcomers and sojourners, so that anyone who has shed blood unwillingly may flee to these places.

For the people of Israel, for the foreigners, for anyone living among you, these six cities will serve as a refuge to which anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee.

16 If anyone will have struck someone with iron, and he who was struck will have died, then he shall be guilty of homicide, and he himself shall die.

But if an accused man has struck his victim with an instrument of iron, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

17 If he will have thrown a stone, and he who has been struck lies dead, then he shall be punished similarly.

If an accused man has struck his victim with a stone in his hand that might kill the victim, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

18 If he who has been struck with wood passes away, he shall be avenged by the blood of the one who struck him.

If an accused man has struck his victim with a wooden weapon that might kill the victim, and if the victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

19 The close relative of the deceased shall put to death the murderer; as soon as he apprehends him, he shall put him to death.

The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death. When he meets him, the avenger of blood must put him to death.

20 If, out of hatred, anyone assaults a man, or throws anything at him with ill intent,

If he strikes another in hatred or throws something at him, while hiding to ambush him, so that the victim dies,

21 or, while being his enemy, strikes him with his hand, and so he has died, the attacker shall be guilty of murder. The kinsman of the deceased, as soon as he finds him, shall cut his throat.

or if he strikes him down in hatred with his hand so that the victim dies, then the accused who struck him must surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death when he meets him.

22 But if by chance, and without hatred

But if an accused man suddenly hits a victim without premeditated hate or throws something that hits the victim without lying in wait

23 or animosity, he will have done any of these things,

or if he throws a stone that could kill a victim without seeing the victim, then the accused was not the victim's enemy; he was not trying to hurt the victim. But this is what to do if the victim dies anyway.

24 and this has been proven in the hearing of the people, and the questions have been aired, between the one who struck and the close relative,

In that case, the community must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood on the basis of these rules.

25 then the innocent one shall be freed from the hand of the revenger, and he shall be returned by this judgment into the city to which he had fled, and he shall stay there until the high priest, who has been anointed with the holy oil, dies.

The community must rescue the accused from the power of the avenger of blood. The community must return the accused to the city of refuge to which he had originally fled. He must live there until the death of the current high priest, the one who was anointed with the holy oil.

26 If the one who has killed has been found beyond the limits of the cities which have been assigned to the exiled,

But if the accused man at any time goes beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he fled,

27 and he has been struck by him who is avenging blood, he who killed him shall not be harmed.

and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and if he kills the accused man, the avenger of blood will not be guilty of murder.

28 For the fugitive ought to have resided in the city, until the death of the high priest. Then, after he is dead, the one who has killed shall be returned to his own land.

This is because the accused man should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the accused may return to the land where he has his own property.

29 These things shall be a perpetual ordinance in all your habitations.

These laws must be statutes for you through all your people's generations in all the places where you live.

30 The punishment of a murderer shall be based upon testimony; but no one shall be condemned upon the testimony of only one person.

Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be killed, as testified to by the words of witnesses. But one witness' word alone may not cause any person to be put to death.

31 You shall not accept money from him who is guilty of blood, and he shall be put to death promptly.

Also, you must not accept ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of murder. He must certainly be put to death.

32 Exiles and fugitives, prior to the death of the high priest, are by no means able to be returned to their own cities.

You must not accept ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge. You must not in this way allow him to reside on his own property until the high priest dies.

33 Do not pollute the land of your habitation, so as to stain it with the blood of the innocent; neither is it able to be expiated in any way other than by the blood of him who has shed the blood of another.

Do not pollute in this way the land where you live, because blood from murder pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land when blood has been shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

34 And so shall your possession be cleansed, while I myself am abiding with you. For I am the Lord, who lives among the sons of Israel.”

So you must not defile the land in which you live because I am living in it. I, Yahweh, live among the people of Israel.'”