Numbers 35

1 And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,

The Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan opposite Jericho. He told him,

2 Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.

“Order the Israelites to provide from their land allocation towns for the Levites to live in and pastures around the towns.

3 These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts,

The towns are for them to live in, and the pastures will be for their herds and their flocks—for all their livestock.

4 Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.

The pastures around the towns you give to the Levites are to extend out from the wall a thousand cubits on all sides.

5 The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.

Measure two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the town in the middle. These areas will be their pastures around the towns.

6 And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.

Six of the towns you give the Levites are to be sanctuary towns, where a person who kills someone can run for protection. As well as these towns, give the Levites forty-two more.

7 Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them.

The total number of towns you are to give the Levites is forty-eight, along with their pastures.

8 And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.

The towns that you allocate to be given to the Levites from the territory of the Israelites will be more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. The number will be in proportion to the size of the land allocation of each tribe.”

9 And the Lord said to Moses,

The Lord told Moses,

10 Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

“Tell the Israelites: ‘When you cross over the Jordan into Canaan,

11 Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.

choose towns as your sanctuary towns, so a person who kills someone by mistake may run there.

12 In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.

These towns will be for you places of sanctuary from those seeking revenge, so that the killer will not die until they are tried in court.

13 Six of the towns which you give will be such safe places;

The towns you choose will be your six sanctuary towns.

14 Three on the other side of Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, to be safe places for flight.

Choose three cities on the other side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.

15 For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.

These six cities will be places of sanctuary for the Israelites and for foreigners or settlers among them, so that anyone who kills a person by mistake may run there.

16 But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

But if anyone deliberately hits someone with something made of iron and kills them, that person is a murderer and must be executed.

17 Or if he gives him a blow with a stone in his hand, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

If anyone picks up something made of stone that could be used as a weapon and hits someone with it, and kills them, that person is a murderer and must be executed.

18 Or if he gave him blows with a wood instrument in his hands, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.

If anyone picks up something made of wood that could be used as a weapon and hits someone with it, and kills them, that person is a murderer and must be executed.

19 He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

The avenger is to execute the murderer. When he finds the murderer, he is to kill him.

20 If in his hate he put a sword through him, or waiting secretly for him sent a spear or stone at him, causing his death;

Similarly, if anyone hates someone and knocks them down or deliberately throws something at them, and they're killed;

21 Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.

or if someone hits another with his hand and they die, the one who hit him must be executed because he is a murderer. When the avenger finds the murderer, he is to kill him.

22 But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,

But if anyone knocks someone else down without meaning to and without hating them, or throws something at them not meaning to hurt them,

23 Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:

or carelessly drops a heavy stone that kills them, but not as an enemy or intending to harm them,

24 Then let the meeting of the people be judge between the man responsible for the death and him who has the right of punishment for blood, acting by these rules:

then the community must judge between the killer and the avenger following these regulations.

25 And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.

The court is to protect the killer from being attacked by the avenger and must return him to the sanctuary town that he ran to, and he must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with holy oil.

26 But if ever he goes outside the walls of the safe town where he had gone in flight,

But if the killer ever leaves the limits of sanctuary town where they ran to,

27 And the giver of punishment, meeting him outside the walls of the town, puts him to death, he will not be responsible for his blood:

and the avenger finds him them outside his sanctuary town and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of murder,

28 Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.

because the killer has to stay in his sanctuary town until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest are they allowed to return to the land they own.

29 These rules are to be your guide in judging through all your generations wherever you may be living.

These regulations apply to all future generations wherever you live.

30 Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.

If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be executed based on the evidence given by witnesses, plural. No one is to be executed based on the evidence given by a single witness.

31 Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.

You are not to accept payment instead of executing a murderer who has been found guilty—they must be executed.

32 And no price may be offered for one who has gone in flight to a safe town, for the purpose of letting him come back to his place before the death of the high priest.

Also you are not allowed to accept payment for a person who runs to a sanctuary town and permit them to return and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.

33 So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.

Don't pollute the land where you live because bloodshed pollutes the land, and the land where blood is shed can't be purified except by the blood of the one who shed it.

34 Do not make unclean the land where you are living and in which is my House: for I the Lord am present among the children of Israel.

Don't make the land impure where you live because I live there too. I am the Lord, and I live with the Israelites.”