Numbers 35

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

And the Lord spoke to Moses to the west of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

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

Give orders to the children of Israel, and they shall give to the Levites cities to dwell in from the lot of their possession, and they shall give to the Levites the suburbs of the cities round about them.

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

And the cities shall be for them to dwell in, and their enclosures shall be for their cattle and all their beasts.

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

And the suburbs of the cities which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outwards two thousand cubits round about.

5 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.

And you shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and your city shall be in the midst of this, and the suburbs of the cities [as described].

6 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.

And you shall give the cities to the Levites, the six cities of refuge which you shall give for the slayer to flee there, and in addition to these, forty-two cities.

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

You shall give to the Levites in all forty-eight cities, them and their suburbs.

8 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.”

And as for the cities which you shall give out of the possession of the children of Israel, from those [that have] much [you shall give] much, and from those that have less you shall give less: they shall give of their cities to the Levites each one according to his inheritance which they shall inherit.

9 The Lord told Moses,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

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

Speak to the children of Israel, and you shall say to them, You are to cross over Jordan into the land of Chanaan.

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

And you shall appoint to yourselves cities: they shall be to you cities of refuge for the slayer to flee to, every one who has killed another unintentionally.

12 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.

And the cities shall be to you places of refuge from the avenger of blood, and the slayer shall not die until he stands before the congregation for judgement.

13 The towns you choose will be your six sanctuary towns.

And the cities which you shall assign, [even] the six cities, shall be places of refuge for you.

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

You shall assign three cities on the other side of Jordan, and you shall assign three cities in the land of Chanaan.

15 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.

It shall be a place of refuge for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for him that sojourns amongst you; these cities shall be for a place of refuge, for every one to flee there who has killed a man unintentionally.

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

And if he should strike him with an iron instrument, and the man should die, he is a murderer; let the murderer by all means be put to death.

17 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.

And if he should strike him with a stone [thrown] from his hand, whereby a man may die, and he [thus] die, he is a murderer; let the murderer by all means be put to death.

18 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.

And if he should strike him with an instrument of wood from his hand, whereby he may die, and he [thus] die, he is a murderer; let the murderer by all means be put to death.

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

The avenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer: whenever he shall meet him he shall kill him.

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

And if he should thrust him through enmity, or cast any thing upon him from an ambuscade, and the man should die,

21 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.

or if he have struck him with his hand through anger, and the man should die, let the man that struck him be put to death by all means, he is a murderer: let the murderer by all means be put to death: the avenger of blood shall kill the murderer when he meets him.

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

But if he should thrust him suddenly, not through enmity, or cast any thing upon him, not from an ambuscade,

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

or [strike him] with any stone, whereby a man may die, unawares, and it should fall upon him, and he should die, but he was not his enemy, nor sought to hurt him;

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

then the assembly shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood, according to these judgements.

25 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.

And the congregation shall rescue the slayer from the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he fled for refuge; and he shall dwell there till the death of the high-priest, whom they anointed with the holy oil.

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

But if the slayer should in any wise go out beyond the bounds of the city whither he fled for refuge,

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

and the avenger of blood should find him without the bounds of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood should kill the slayer, he is not guilty.

28 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.

For he ought to have remained in the city of refuge till the high-priest died; and after the death of the high-priest the slayer shall return to the land of his possession.

29 These regulations apply to all future generations wherever you live.

And these things shall be to you for an ordinance of judgement throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

30 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.

Whoever kills a man, you shall kill the murderer on the testimony of witnesses; and one witness shall not testify against a soul that he should die.

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

And you shall not accept ransoms for life from a murderer who is worthy of death, for he shall be surely put to death.

32 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.

You shall not accept a ransom [to excuse] his fleeing to the city of refuge, so that he should again dwell in the land, until the death of the high-priest.

33 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.

So shall you not pollute with murder the land in which you dwell; for this blood pollutes the land, and the land shall not be purged from the blood shed upon it, but by the blood of him that shed it.

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

And you shall not defile the land whereon you dwell, on which I dwell in the midst of you; for I am the Lord dwelling in the midst of the children of Israel.