Numbers 35

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by 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 children of Israel, that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and ye shall give [also] to the Levites suburbs for the cities around them.

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

3 And they shall have the cities to dwell in; and the suburbs of them shall be for their cattle, 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 suburbs of the cities which ye shall give to the Levites, [shall reach] from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits on all sides.

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

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; and the city [shall be] in the midst: this shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.

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 among the cities which ye shall give to the Levites [there shall be] six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint for the man-slayer, that he may flee thither: and to them ye shall add forty and 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 [So] all the cities which ye shall give to the Levites [shall be] forty and eight cities: them [shall ye give] with their suburbs.

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

8 And the cities which ye shall give [shall be] of the possession of the children of Israel: from [them that have] many ye shall give many; but from [them that have] few ye shall give few: every one shall give of his cities to the Levites according to his inheritance which he inheriteth.

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 the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

The Lord said to Moses:

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

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

12 And they shall be to you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the man-slayer may not die, until he stands before the congregation in 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 And of these cities which ye shall give, six cities shall ye have for refuge.

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

14 Ye shall give three cities on this side of Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, [which] shall be cities of refuge.

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

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

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 shall smite him with an instrument of iron, so that he shall die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be 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 shall smite him by throwing a stone, by which he may die, and he shall die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be 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 shall smite him with a hand-weapon of wood, with which he may die, and he shall die, he [is] a murderer: the murderer shall surely be 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 avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meeteth him, he shall slay him.

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

20 But if he shall thrust him of hatred, or hurl at him by laying in wait, that he die.

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

21 Or in enmity shall smite him with his hand, that he die: he that smote [him] shall surely be put to death; [for] he [is] a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meeteth 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 But if he shall thrust him suddenly without enmity, or shall have cast upon him any thing without laying in wait,

But if by chance medley, and without hatred,

23 Or with any stone, by which a man may die, seeing [him] not, and shall cast [it] upon him, that he die, and [was] not his enemy, neither sought his harm:

And enmity, he do any of these things,

24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to 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 shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled: and he shall abide in it to the death of the high priest, who was 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 But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he had fled;

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

27 And the avenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood shall kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:

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

28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land 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 So these [things] shall be 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 killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person [to cause him] to die.

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

31 Moreover, ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, who [is] guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

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

32 And ye shall take no satisfaction 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.

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

33 So ye shall not pollute the land in which ye [are]: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him that shed 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 Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, in which I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children 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.