Numbers 35

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

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

2 Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of 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 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:

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

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

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 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.

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 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,

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, in all 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 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.

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

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

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

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 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.

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

You must choose six cities as cities of refuge.

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

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

15 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.

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 any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck: he shall be guilty of murder, 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 throw a stone, and he that is struck die: he shall be punished in the same manner.

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 that is struck with wood die: he shall be revenged by the blood of him that 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 kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.

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

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

21 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.

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 medley, 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 And enmity, he do 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 be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:

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

25 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.

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

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

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

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 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.

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 perpetual, and for an ordinance in all your dwellings.

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

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

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 take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he shall die forthwith.

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

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