Liber Numeri 35
1 haec quoque locutus est Dominus ad Mosen in campestribus Moab super Iordanem contra Hiericho
Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:
2 praecipe filiis Israhel ut dent Levitis de possessionibus suis
“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.
3 urbes ad habitandum et suburbana earum per circuitum ut ipsi in oppidis maneant et suburbana sint pecoribus ac iumentis
The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.
4 quae a muris civitatum forinsecus per circuitum mille passuum spatio tendentur
The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side.
5 contra orientem duo milia erunt cubiti et contra meridiem similiter duo milia ad mare quoque quod respicit occidentem eadem mensura erit et septentrionalis plaga aequali termino finietur eruntque urbes in medio et foris suburbana
You are also to measure two thousand cubits outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.
6 de ipsis autem oppidis quae Levitis dabitis sex erunt in fugitivorum auxilia separata ut fugiat ad ea qui fuderit sanguinem exceptis his alia quadraginta duo oppida
Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
7 id est simul quadraginta octo cum suburbanis suis
The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands.
8 ipsaeque urbes quae dabuntur de possessionibus filiorum Israhel ab his qui plus habent plures auferentur et qui minus pauciores singuli iuxta mensuram hereditatis suae dabunt oppida Levitis
The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”
9 ait Dominus ad Mosen
Then the LORD said to Moses,
10 loquere filiis Israhel et dices ad eos quando transgressi fueritis Iordanem in terram Chanaan
“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 decernite quae urbes esse debeant in praesidia fugitivorum qui nolentes sanguinem fuderint
designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.
12 in quibus cum fuerit profugus cognatus occisi eum non poterit occidere donec stet in conspectu multitudinis et causa illius iudicetur
You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.
13 de ipsis autem urbibus quae ad fugitivorum subsidia separantur
The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge.
14 tres erunt trans Iordanem et tres in terra Chanaan
Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.
15 tam filiis Israhel quam advenis atque peregrinis ut confugiat ad eas qui nolens sanguinem fuderit
These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
16 si quis ferro percusserit et mortuus fuerit qui percussus est reus erit homicidii et ipse morietur
If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
17 si lapidem iecerit et ictus occubuerit similiter punietur
Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
18 si ligno percussus interierit percussoris sanguine vindicabitur
If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
19 propinquus occisi homicidam interficiet statim ut adprehenderit eum percutiet
The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.
20 si per odium quis hominem inpulerit vel iecerit quippiam in eum per insidias
Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,
21 aut cum esset inimicus manu percusserit et ille mortuus fuerit percussor homicidii reus erit cognatus occisi statim ut invenerit eum iugulabit
or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
22 quod si fortuito et absque odio
But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,
23 et inimicitiis quicquam horum fecerit
or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,
24 et hoc audiente populo fuerit conprobatum atque inter percussorem et propinquum sanguinis quaestio ventilata
then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
25 liberabitur innocens de ultoris manu et reducetur per sententiam in urbem ad quam confugerat manebitque ibi donec sacerdos magnus qui oleo sancto unctus est moriatur
The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 si interfector extra fines urbium quae exulibus deputatae sunt
But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled
27 fuerit inventus et percussus ab eo qui ultor est sanguinis absque noxa erit qui eum occiderit
and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed
28 debuerat enim profugus usque ad mortem pontificis in urbe residere postquam autem ille obierit homicida revertetur in terram suam
because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns.
29 haec sempiterna erunt et legitima in cunctis habitationibus vestris
This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.
30 homicida sub testibus punietur ad unius testimonium nullus condemnabitur
If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.
31 non accipietis pretium ab eo qui reus est sanguinis statim et ipse morietur
You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.
32 exules et profugi ante mortem pontificis nullo modo in urbes suas reverti poterunt
Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
33 ne polluatis terram habitationis vestrae quae insontium cruore maculatur nec aliter expiari potest nisi per eius sanguinem qui alterius sanguinem fuderit
Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
34 atque ita emundabitur vestra possessio me commorante vobiscum ego enim sum Dominus qui habito inter filios Israhel
Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”
