Numbers 35

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, [near] Jericho, saying,

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

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

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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 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 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 all the cities which you give to the Levites [are] forty-eight cities, them and their outskirts.

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

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 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 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

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,

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 and have prepared cities for yourselves—they are cities of refuge to you—then a manslayer, striking a person through ignorance, has fled there,

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

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.

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 As for the cities which you give, six [are] cities of refuge to you;

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

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

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

19 The redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death himself; in his coming against him he puts him to death.

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

20 And if he pushes him in hatred, or has cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dies,

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

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 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 And if, in an instant, without enmity, he has pushed him, or has cast any instrument at him without lying in wait,

But if by chance medley, and without hatred,

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,

And enmity, he do any of these things,

24 then the congregation has judged between the striker and the redeemer of blood by these judgments.

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 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.

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 And if the manslayer indeed goes out [from] the border of the city of his refuge to where he flees,

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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;

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 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.”

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