Numbers 35

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

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

2 Command the children of Israel, that of the inheritance of their possession they give unto the Levites cities to dwell in; and a suburb for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.

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

3 And the cities shall they have to dwell in, and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for 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 And the suburbs of the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites shall be from the walls of the city outward, a thousand cubits round about.

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

5 And ye shall measure, without the city, the east side two thousand cubits, and the south side two thousand cubits, and the west side two thousand cubits, and the north side two thousand cubits, and the city shall be in the midst: they shall have this as suburbs of the cities.

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 [among] the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites [shall be] the six cities of refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither, — and besides them ye shall give forty-two cities:

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 all the cities that ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their suburbs.

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

8 And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have much ye shall take much, and from them that have little ye shall take little; each one according to his inheritance which he will inherit shall give of his cities 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 Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord told Moses,

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

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

11 then ye shall appoint for yourselves cities: cities of refuge shall they be for you; that a manslayer may flee thither, who without intent smiteth a person mortally.

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

12 And ye shall have these cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the assembly in judgment.

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

The towns you choose will be your six sanctuary towns.

14 Three cities shall ye give on this side of the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.

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 stranger, and for the sojourner among them shall these six cities be a refuge, that one who smiteth a person mortally without intent may flee thither.

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 And if he have smitten him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly 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 And if he have smitten him with a stone from the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly 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 have smitten him with an instrument of wood, in the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly 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 the avenger of blood, he shall put the murderer to death; when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.

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

20 And if he thrust at him out of hatred, or hurl at him intentionally, so that he die,

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

21 or from enmity smite him with his hand, so that he die, he that smote him shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth 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 he have thrust at him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything unintentionally,

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 [have smitten him] with any stone wherewith one may die, without seeing him, and have cast it upon him so that he die, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:

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

24 then the assembly shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these judgments;

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

25 and the assembly shall rescue the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled; and he shall abide in it until the death of the high-priest, who was anointed 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 the manslayer shall in any way come outside the limits of the city of his refuge whither he hath fled,

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

27 and the avenger of blood find him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer, there shall be no blood-guiltiness upon him;

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

28 for the manslayer should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high-priest; but after the death of the high-priest he may return into the land of his possession.

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 And this shall be unto you a statute of right throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

These regulations apply to all future generations wherever you live.

30 Whoever shall smite a person mortally, at the mouth of witnesses shall the murderer be put to death; but one witness shall not testify against a person to cause him to die.

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 And ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly 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 ye shall take no satisfaction for him that hath fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the 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 And ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and there can be no atonement made for the land, for the blood that hath been shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed 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 And ye shall not defile the land that ye inhabit, in the midst whereof I dwell; for I am Jehovah who dwell in the midst of 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.”