Liber Numeri 35

1 haec quoque locutus est Dominus ad Mosen in campestribus Moab super Iordanem contra Hiericho

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

2 praecipe filiis Israhel ut dent Levitis de possessionibus suis

“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.

3 urbes ad habitandum et suburbana earum per circuitum ut ipsi in oppidis maneant et suburbana sint pecoribus ac iumentis

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.

4 quae a muris civitatum forinsecus per circuitum mille passuum spatio tendentur

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.

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

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.

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

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;

7 id est simul quadraginta octo cum suburbanis suis

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

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

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.”

9 ait Dominus ad Mosen

And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

10 loquere filiis Israhel et dices ad eos quando transgressi fueritis Iordanem in terram Chanaan

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and you have said to them: When you are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan,

11 decernite quae urbes esse debeant in praesidia fugitivorum qui nolentes sanguinem fuderint

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

12 in quibus cum fuerit profugus cognatus occisi eum non poterit occidere donec stet in conspectu multitudinis et causa illius iudicetur

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.

13 de ipsis autem urbibus quae ad fugitivorum subsidia separantur

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

14 tres erunt trans Iordanem et tres in terra Chanaan

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.

15 tam filiis Israhel quam advenis atque peregrinis ut confugiat ad eas qui nolens sanguinem fuderit

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.

16 si quis ferro percusserit et mortuus fuerit qui percussus est reus erit homicidii et ipse morietur

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.

17 si lapidem iecerit et ictus occubuerit similiter punietur

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.

18 si ligno percussus interierit percussoris sanguine vindicabitur

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.

19 propinquus occisi homicidam interficiet statim ut adprehenderit eum percutiet

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

20 si per odium quis hominem inpulerit vel iecerit quippiam in eum per insidias

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

21 aut cum esset inimicus manu percusserit et ille mortuus fuerit percussor homicidii reus erit cognatus occisi statim ut invenerit eum iugulabit

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.

22 quod si fortuito et absque odio

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

23 et inimicitiis quicquam horum fecerit

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,

24 et hoc audiente populo fuerit conprobatum atque inter percussorem et propinquum sanguinis quaestio ventilata

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

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

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.

26 si interfector extra fines urbium quae exulibus deputatae sunt

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

27 fuerit inventus et percussus ab eo qui ultor est sanguinis absque noxa erit qui eum occiderit

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;

28 debuerat enim profugus usque ad mortem pontificis in urbe residere postquam autem ille obierit homicida revertetur in terram suam

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.

29 haec sempiterna erunt et legitima in cunctis habitationibus vestris

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

30 homicida sub testibus punietur ad unius testimonium nullus condemnabitur

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.

31 non accipietis pretium ab eo qui reus est sanguinis statim et ipse morietur

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

32 exules et profugi ante mortem pontificis nullo modo in urbes suas reverti poterunt

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.

33 ne polluatis terram habitationis vestrae quae insontium cruore maculatur nec aliter expiari potest nisi per eius sanguinem qui alterius sanguinem fuderit

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;

34 atque ita emundabitur vestra possessio me commorante vobiscum ego enim sum Dominus qui habito inter filios Israhel

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.”