Numbers 35

1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,

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

2 Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and an open space for the cities round about them shall ye give [also] unto the Levites.

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 And the cities shall serve them to dwell in; and their open spaces shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their requirements.

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

4 And the open spaces of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.

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 And ye shall measure from without 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, with the city in the midst: this shall be to them the open spaces of the cities.

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 And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall appoint that the manslayer may flee thither; and in addition to them shall ye give forty and two cities.

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 All the cities which ye shall [thus] give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities, they with their open spaces.

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

8 And the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the tribe that hath many shall ye give many; but from the one that hath few shall ye give few: every one according to its inheritance which it may inherit shall give of its cities unto the Levites.

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 And the Lord spoke unto Moses. saying,

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye have passed over the Jordan into the land of 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 Then ye shall appoint unto yourselves proper cities, that they be cities of refuge for you; and thither shall flee the manslayer who killeth any person at unawares.

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 And these cities shall be unto you for a refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the congregation for trial.

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 And the cities which ye shall give, shall be six cities of refuge unto you;

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

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

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

15 For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for a refuge: that every one may flee thither that killeth any person at unawares.

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 And if he have smitten him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

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 And if he have smitten him with a stone which one can take in the hand, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

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 Or if he have smitten him with an article of wood, which one can take in the hand, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

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 of the blood himself shall slay the murderer; when he meeteth him, shall he slay him.

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

20 And if he push against him out of hatred, or he have hurled at him [any thing] by lying in wait, that he die;

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 in enmity he have smitten him with his hand, that he died, he that smote him shall surely be put to death; [for] he is a murderer: the avenger of the blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth with 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 he have pushed against him accidentally without enmity, or have cast upon him any thing without lying in wait,

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

23 Or with any stone wherewith a man may die, without seeing him, and he have let it fall upon him that he died; whereas he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm:

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 shall the congregation judge between the slayer and the avenger of the blood according to these institutions;

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

25 And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of the blood, and the congregation 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 hath been anointed with the 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 manslayer should at any time pass the boundary of the city of his refuge, whither he may have fled;

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 of the blood should find him beyond the boundary of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of the blood should kill the manslayer: he shall not be guilty of blood;

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 in the city of his refuge shall be remain until the death of the high-priest; but after the death of the high-priest the manslayer may return unto the land of his possession.

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 And these things shall be unto you for a statute of justice throughout your generations, in all your dwellings.

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

30 Whoever it be that killeth a person, according to the testimony of witnesses shall the murderer be put to death; but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die.

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 Moreover ye shall take no redemption money for the person of a murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.

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 And ye shall take no redemption money 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.

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 And ye shall not defile the land wherein ye are; for the blood it is which defileth the land: and no atonement can be made unto the land for the blood which hath been shed therein, except through the blood of him that hath 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 And ye shall not render unclean the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.

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.