< Numbers 35 >
1 And YHWH speaks to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, [near] Jericho, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,
2 “Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites cities to inhabit from the inheritance of their possession; you also give [the] outskirt around them, of the cities, to the Levites.
Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.
3 And the cities have been for them to inhabit, and their outskirts are for their livestock, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.
These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts,
4 And the outskirts of the cities which you give to the Levites [are], from the wall of the city and outside, one thousand cubits around.
Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.
5 And you 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 the outskirts of the cities to them.
The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.
6 And the cities which you give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge, which you give for the fleeing there of the manslayer, and besides them you give forty-two cities;
And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.
7 all the cities which you give to the Levites [are] forty-eight cities, them and their outskirts.
Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them.
8 And the cities which you give [are] from the possession of the sons of Israel; from the many you multiply, and from the few you diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, gives to the Levites from his cities.”
And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.
9 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,
And the Lord said to Moses,
10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you have said to them: When you are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan,
Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
11 and have prepared cities for yourselves—they are cities of refuge to you—then a manslayer, striking a person through ignorance, has fled there,
Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.
12 and the cities have been for a refuge to you from the redeemer, and the manslayer does not die until his standing before the congregation for judgment.
In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.
13 As for the cities which you give, six [are] cities of refuge to you;
Six of the towns which you give will be such safe places;
14 three of the cities you give from beyond the Jordan, and three of the cities you give in the land of Canaan; they are cities of refuge.
Three on the other side of Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, to be safe places for flight.
15 For sons of Israel, and for a sojourner, and for a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing there of anyone striking a person through ignorance.
For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.
16 And if he has struck him with an instrument of iron, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
17 And if he has struck him with a stone [in] the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
Or if he gives him a blow with a stone in his hand, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
18 Or [if] he has struck him with a wooden instrument [in] the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
Or if he gave him blows with a wood instrument in his hands, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
19 The redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death himself; in his coming against him he puts him to death.
He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
20 And if he pushes him in hatred, or has cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dies,
If in his hate he put a sword through him, or waiting secretly for him sent a spear or stone at him, causing his death;
21 or he has struck him with his hand in enmity, and he dies, the striker is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death in his coming against him.
Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
22 And if, in an instant, without enmity, he has pushed him, or has cast any instrument at him without lying in wait,
But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,
23 or with any stone with which he could die, without seeing, indeed, causes [it] to fall on him, and he dies, and he [is] not his enemy, nor seeking his evil,
Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:
24 then the congregation has judged between the striker and the redeemer of blood by these judgments.
Then let the meeting of the people be judge between the man responsible for the death and him who has the right of punishment for blood, acting by these rules:
25 And the congregation has delivered the manslayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the congregation has caused him to return to the city of his refuge, to where he has fled, and he has dwelt in it until the death of the chief priest who has been anointed with the holy oil.
And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.
26 And if the manslayer indeed goes out [from] the border of the city of his refuge to where he flees,
But if ever he goes outside the walls of the safe town where he had gone in flight,
27 and the redeemer of blood has found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge, and the redeemer of blood has slain the manslayer, blood [is] not [reckoned] to him;
And the giver of punishment, meeting him outside the walls of the town, puts him to death, he will not be responsible for his blood:
28 for he dwells in the city of his refuge until the death of the chief priest; and after the death of the chief priest the manslayer turns back to the city of his possession.
Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.
29 And these things have been for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations, in all your dwellings.
These rules are to be your guide in judging through all your generations wherever you may be living.
30 Whoever strikes a person, by the mouth of witnesses [one] slays the murderer; and one witness does not testify against a person to cause [him] to die.
Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.
31 And you take no atonement for the life of a murderer who [is] condemned to die, for he is certainly put to death;
Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.
32 and you take no atonement for him [who had] to flee to the city of his refuge, to return to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
And no price may be offered for one who has gone in flight to a safe town, for the purpose of letting him come back to his place before the death of the high priest.
33 And you do not profane the land which you [are] in, for blood profanes the land; as for the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheds it;
So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.
34 and you do not defile the land in which you are dwelling, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, YHWH, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.”
Do not make unclean the land where you are living and in which is my House: for I the Lord am present among the children of Israel.