Numbers 35

1 And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

And the Lord spoke these things also to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, over against Jericho:

2 Command the sons of Israel, that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in. And ye shall give suburbs for the cities round about them to the Levites.

Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of their possessions,

3 And they shall have the cities to dwell in, and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their beasts.

Cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about: that they may abide in the towns, and the suburbs may be for their cattle and beasts:

4 And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.

Which suburbs shall reach from the walls of the cities outward, a thousand paces on every side:

5 And ye shall measure outside the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

Toward the east shall be two thousand cubits: and toward the south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits: toward the sea also, which looketh to the west, shall be the same extent: and the north side shall be bounded with the like limits. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs without.

6 And of the cities which ye shall give to the Levites, there shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee to. And besides them ye shall give forty-two cities.

And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood may flee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two cities,

7 All the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, them with their suburbs.

That is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.

8 And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many ye shall take many, and from the few ye shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.

And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.

9 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord said to Moses:

10 Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have passed over the Jordan into the land of Chanaan,

11 then ye shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.

Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who have shed blood against their will.

12 And the cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the multitude, and his cause be judged.

13 And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.

And of those cities, that are separated for the refuge of fugitives,

14 Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities ye shall give in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge.

Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three in the land of Chanaan,

15 For the sons of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.

As well for the children of Israel as for strangers and sojourners, that he may flee to them, who hath shed blood against his will.

16 But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.

If any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck: he shall be guilty of murder, and he himself shall die.

17 And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.

If he throw a stone, and he that is struck die: he shall be punished in the same manner.

18 Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.

If he that is struck with wood die: he shall be revenged by the blood of him that struck him.

19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.

The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.

20 And if he thrust him from hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,

If through hatred any one push a man, or fling any thing at him with ill design:

21 or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died, he who smote 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.

Or being his enemy, strike; him with his hand, and he die: the striker shall be guilty of murder: the kinsman of him that was slain as soon as he findeth him, shall kill him.

22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him anything without lying in wait,

But if by chance medley, and without hatred,

23 or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, nor sought his harm,

And enmity, he do any of these things,

24 then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:

25 And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge where he fled. And he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

The innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the revenger, and shall be brought back by sentence into the city, to which he had fled, and he shall abide there until the death of the high priest, that is anointed with the holy oil.

26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees,

If the murderer be found without the limits of the cities that are appointed for the banished,

27 and the avenger of blood find him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood,

And be struck by him that is the avenger of blood: he shall not be guilty that killed him.

28 because 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 shall return into the land of his possession.

For the fugitive ought to have stayed in the city until the death of the high priest: and after he is dead, then shall the manslayer return to his own country.

29 And these things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance in all your dwellings.

30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person so that he dies.

The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be condemned upon the evidence of one man.

31 Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.

You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he shall die forthwith.

32 And ye shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

The banished and fugitives before the death of the high priest may by no means return into their own cities.

33 So ye shall not pollute the land in which ye are, for blood, it pollutes the land. And no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.

Defile not the land of your habitation, which is stained with the blood of the innocent: neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by his blood that hath shed the blood of another.

34 And thou shall not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, Jehovah, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.

And thus shall your possession he cleansed, myself abiding with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.