Numbers 35

1 Yahweh spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho and said,

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, [near] Jericho, saying,

2 “Command the people of Israel to give some of their own shares of land to the Levites. They must give them cities to live in and pastureland surrounding those cities.

'Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to inhabit; also a suburb for the cities round about them ye do give to the Levites.

3 The Levites will have these cities to live in. The pastureland will be for their cattle, their flocks, and all their animals.

And the cities have been to them to inhabit, and their suburbs are for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

4 The pasturelands around the cities that you will give to the Levites must extend from the city walls for one thousand cubits in every direction.

'And the suburbs of the cities which ye give to the Levites [are], from the wall of the city and without, a thousand cubits round about.

5 You must measure two thousand cubits from outside the city on the east side, and two thousand cubits to the south side, two thousand cubits to the west side, and two thousand cubits to the north side. This will be the pasturelands for their cities. The cities will be in the center.

And ye 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 to them the suburbs of the cities.

6 Six of the cities that you will give to Levites must serve as cities of refuge. You must provide these as places to which a person who has killed someone can flee. Also provide forty-two other cities.

'And the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge, which ye give for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, and besides them ye give forty and two cities;

7 The cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight. You must give their pasturelands with them.

all the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] forty and eight cities, them and their suburbs.

8 The larger tribes of the people of Israel, the tribes that have more land, must provide more cities. The smaller tribes will provide fewer cities. Each tribe must provide for the Levites according to the share that it has received.”

And the cities which ye give [are] of the possession of the sons of Israel, from the many ye multiply, and from the few ye diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, doth give of his cities to the Levites.'

9 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses and said,

And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, 'When you cross over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

'Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When ye are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan,

11 then you must choose cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, a place to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

and have prepared to yourselves cities — cities of refuge they are to you — then fled thither hath a man-slayer, smiting a person unawares,

12 These cities must be your refuge from the avenger, so that the accused man will not be killed without first standing trial before the community.

and the cities have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer, and the man-slayer doth not die till his standing before the company for judgment.

13 You must choose six cities as cities of refuge.

'As to the cities which ye give — six [are] cities of refuge to you;

14 You must provide three cities beyond the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge.

the three of the cities ye give beyond the Jordan, and the three of the cities ye give in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they are.

15 For the people of Israel, for the foreigners, for anyone living among you, these six cities will serve as a refuge to which anyone who kills someone unintentionally can flee.

To sons of Israel, and to a sojourner, and to a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares.

16 But if an accused man has struck his victim with an instrument of iron, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

'And if with an instrument of iron he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

17 If an accused man has struck his victim with a stone in his hand that might kill the victim, and if his victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

'And if with a stone [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

18 If an accused man has struck his victim with a wooden weapon that might kill the victim, and if the victim dies, then the accused is indeed a murderer. He must certainly be put to death.

'Or with a wooden instrument [in] the hand, wherewith he dieth, he hath smitten him, and he dieth, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

19 The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death. When he meets him, the avenger of blood must put him to death.

'The redeemer of blood himself doth put the murderer to death; in his coming against him he doth put him to death.

20 If he strikes another in hatred or throws something at him, while hiding to ambush him, so that the victim dies,

'And if in hatred he thrust him through, or hath cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dieth;

21 or if he strikes him down in hatred with his hand so that the victim dies, then the accused who struck him must surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood may put the murderer to death when he meets him.

or in enmity he hath smitten him with his hand, and he dieth; the smiter is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood doth put the murderer to death in his coming against him.

22 But if an accused man suddenly hits a victim without premeditated hate or throws something that hits the victim without lying in wait

'And if, in an instant, without enmity, he hath thrust him through, or hath cast at him any instrument, without lying in wait;

23 or if he throws a stone that could kill a victim without seeing the victim, then the accused was not the victim's enemy; he was not trying to hurt the victim. But this is what to do if the victim dies anyway.

or with any stone wherewith he dieth, without seeing, and causeth [it] to fall upon him, and he dieth, and he [is] not his enemy, nor seeking his evil;

24 In that case, the community must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood on the basis of these rules.

then have the company judged between the smiter and the redeemer of blood, by these judgments.

25 The community must rescue the accused from the power of the avenger of blood. The community must return the accused to the city of refuge to which he had originally fled. He must live there until the death of the current high priest, the one who was anointed with the holy oil.

'And the company have delivered the man-slayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the company have caused him to turn back unto the city of his refuge, whither he hath fled, and he hath dwelt in it till the death of the chief priest, who hath been anointed with the holy oil.

26 But if the accused man at any time goes beyond the border of the city of refuge to which he fled,

'And if the man-slayer at all go out [from] the border of the city of his refuge whither he fleeth,

27 and if the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and if he kills the accused man, the avenger of blood will not be guilty of murder.

and the redeemer of blood hath found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge, and the redeemer of blood hath slain the man-slayer, blood is not for him;

28 This is because the accused man should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. After the death of the high priest, the accused may return to the land where he has his own property.

for in the city of his refuge he doth dwell till the death of the chief priest; and after the death of the chief priest doth the man-slayer turn back unto the city of his possession.

29 These laws must be statutes for you through all your people's generations in all the places where you live.

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

30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be killed, as testified to by the words of witnesses. But one witness' word alone may not cause any person to be put to death.

whoso smiteth a person, by the mouth of witnesses doth [one] slay the murderer; and one witness doth not testify against a person — to die.

31 Also, you must not accept ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of murder. He must certainly be put to death.

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

32 You must not accept ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge. You must not in this way allow him to reside on his own property until the high priest dies.

and ye take no atonement for him to flee unto the city of his refuge, to turn back to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

33 Do not pollute in this way the land where you live, because blood from murder pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land when blood has been shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

'And ye profane not the land which ye [are] in, for blood profaneth the land; as to the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheddeth it;

34 So you must not defile the land in which you live because I am living in it. I, Yahweh, live among the people of Israel.'”

and ye defile not the land in which ye are dwelling, in the midst of which I do tabernacle, for I Jehovah do tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel.'