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

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

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

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

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:

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

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

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.

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.

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 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,

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

That is, in all forty-eight with 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 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.

9 The Lord told Moses,

The Lord said to Moses:

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

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,

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

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

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 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.

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

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

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

Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three 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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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

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

The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth 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;

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

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 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.

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 by chance medley, and without hatred,

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

And enmity, he do any of these things,

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

And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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 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.

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

These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance 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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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