Numbers 35

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

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, [near] Jericho, saying,

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

'Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to inhabit; also a suburb for the cities round about them ye do give to the Levites.

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:

And the cities have been to them to inhabit, and their suburbs are for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

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

'And the suburbs of the cities which ye give to the Levites [are], from the wall of the city and without, a thousand cubits round about.

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.

And ye have measured from the outside of the city, the east quarter, two thousand by the cubit, and the south quarter, two thousand by the cubit, and the west quarter, two thousand by the cubit, and the north quarter, two thousand by the cubit; and the city [is] in the midst; this is to them the suburbs of the cities.

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,

'And the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge, which ye give for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, and besides them ye give forty and two cities;

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

all the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] forty and eight cities, them and their suburbs.

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.

And the cities which ye give [are] of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many ye multiply, and from the few ye diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, doth give of his cities to the Levites.'

9 The Lord said to Moses:

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

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 unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan,

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

and have prepared to yourselves cities — cities of refuge they are to you — then fled thither hath a man-slayer, smiting a person unawares,

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.

and the cities have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer, and the man-slayer doth not die till his standing before the company for judgment.

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

'As to the cities which ye give — six [are] cities of refuge to you;

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

the three of the cities ye give beyond the Jordan, and the three of the cities ye give in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they are.

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.

To sons of Israel, and to a sojourner, and to a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares.

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

'And if with an instrument of iron he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

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

'And if with a stone [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

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

'Or with a wooden instrument [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly 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 redeemer of blood himself doth put the murderer to death; in his coming against him he doth put him to death.

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

'And if in hatred he thrust him through, or hath cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dieth;

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 in enmity he hath smitten him with his hand, and he dieth; the smiter is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood doth put the murderer to death in his coming against him.

22 But if by chance medley, and without hatred,

'And if, in an instant, without enmity, he hath thrust him through, or hath cast at him any instrument, without lying in wait;

23 And enmity, he do any of these things,

or with any stone wherewith he dieth, without seeing, and causeth [it] to fall upon him, and he dieth, and he [is] not his enemy, nor seeking his evil;

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:

then have the company judged between the smiter and the redeemer of blood, by these judgments.

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.

'And the company have delivered the man-slayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the company have caused him to turn back unto the city of his refuge, whither he hath fled, and he hath dwelt in it till the death of the chief priest, who hath been anointed with the holy oil.

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

'And if the man-slayer at all go out [from] the border of the city of his refuge whither he fleeth,

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

and the redeemer of blood hath found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge, and the redeemer of blood hath slain the man-slayer, blood is not for him;

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.

for in the city of his refuge he doth dwell till the death of the chief priest; and after the death of the chief priest doth the man-slayer turn back unto the city of his possession.

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

'And these things have been to you for a statute of judgment to your generations, in all your dwellings:

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

whoso smiteth a person, by the mouth of witnesses doth [one] slay the murderer; and one witness doth not testify against a person — to die.

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

'And ye take no atonement for the life of a murderer who [is] condemned — to die, for he is certainly put to death;

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

and ye take no atonement for him to flee unto the city of his refuge, to turn back to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

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.

'And ye profane not the land which ye [are] in, for blood profaneth the land; as to the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheddeth 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.

and ye defile not the land in which ye are dwelling, in the midst of which I do tabernacle, for I Jehovah do tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel.'