Numbers 35

1 And Yahweh spake unto Moses in the waste plains of Moab, —by Jordan, near Jericho, saying:

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

2 Command the sons of Israel, that they give unto the Levites—out of the inheritance which they possess—cities to dwell in, —pasture land also unto the cities, round about them, shall ye give 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 So shall the cities be theirs, to dwell in, —and their pasture lands, shall, be for their cattle and for their goods and for all their beasts.

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 pasture lands of the cities which ye shall give unto the Levite, shall be, —from the wall of the city, and outwards, 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 So ye shall measure—on the outside of the city—the eastward 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, with, the city, in the midst. This, shall be unto them the pasture lands 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, among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give that the manslayer may flee thither, —and besides them, ye shall give, forty-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 give unto the Levites, shall be forty-eight cities, —them, and their pasture lands,

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

8 And as touching the cities which ye shall give out of the possession of the sons of Israel from the many, shall ye take many, and from the few, shall ye take few, —each, according to his inheritance, which they shall inherit, shall give of his 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 Then spake Yahweh unto Moses, saying:

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

10 Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say unto them, —When ye are passing over the Jordan unto 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 shall ye find for you, convenient cities, cities of refuge, shall they be unto you, —and the manslayer, who hath slain a person, by mistake, shall flee thither.

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 So shall the cities serve you for places of refuge from the redeemer, —that the manslayer may not die, until he has stood before the assembly, for judgment,

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 judgment.

13 And as touching the cities which ye shall give six cities of refuge, shall there be unto you.

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

14 Three of the cities, shall ye give, on this side the Jordan, and three of the 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 sons of Israel and for the sojourner. and for the settler in your midst, shall these six cities serve, as places of refuge, —that any one may flee thither who hath slain a person, by mistake.

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

16 If, then, with an instrument of iron, he smote him, and he died, a manslayer, he is, —a manslayer, shall surely die.

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 Or if with a stone thrown by hand, where-by one might die, he smote him and he died, a manslayer, he is, —the man-slayer, shall surely die,

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 with hand-weapon of wood, wherewith one might die, he smote him and he died a manslayer, he is, —the manslayer shall surely die.

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 blood-redeemer, he, shall put to death the man-slayer, —when he lighteth upon him, he, shall put him to death.

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

20 Or if with hate, he shall thrust at him, or hurl at him designedly, and he have died,

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 with enmity, he hath smitten him with his hand and he is dead, then shall he that dealt the blow, be surely put to death. a manslayer, he is—the blood-redeemer shall put to death the man-slayer, when he lighteth upon 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 suddenly, without enmity, he shall thrust him, or hurl upon him any missile, without design;

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 whereby one might die without seeing him, and it fall upon him, and he dieth; he, not being at enmity with him, nor seeking to harm him,

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 assembly judge, between him that smote and the blood-redeemer, —according to these regulations;

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

25 and the assembly shall rescue the manslayer out of the hand of the blood-redeemer, and the assembly shall restore him unto his city of refuge whither he had fled, —and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who hath been anointed with the hallowing 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 man-slayer, go out, of the bounds of his city of refuge, whereinto he hath 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 blood-redeemer, find him, outside the bounds of his city of refuge, then may the blood-redeemer slay the slayer, without being 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 for in his city of refuge, should he have remained, until the death of the high priest, —and, after the death of the high priest, might he have returned into the land which he doth possess.

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 So shall these serve you as a regulative statute unto your generations, —wheresoever ye may dwell.

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

30 Whosoever taketh away life, at the mouth of witnesses, shall, the slayer be slain, —but, one witness, shall not testify against a person, to put him to death.

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 And ye shall accept no ransom for the life of him that slayeth, if he have unlawfully caused death, —but he, must 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 accept no ransom for him that hath fled to his city of refuge, if he should return to dwell in the land before 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 So shall ye not pollute the land wherein ye are, for blood, doth pollute the land, and for the land, no propitiatory-covering can be made, as touching blood, that is shed therein, save with the blood of him that 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 thou must not then make unclean the land wherein, ye, are dwelling, in the midst of which, I, have my habitation; for, I,—Yahweh, am making my habitation in the midst of the sons 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.