Liber Numeri 35
1 haec quoque locutus est Dominus ad Mosen in campestribus Moab super Iordanem contra Hiericho
The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
2 praecipe filiis Israhel ut dent Levitis de possessionibus suis
“Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites cities to dwell in out of their inheritance. You shall give pasture lands for the cities around them to the Levites.
3 urbes ad habitandum et suburbana earum per circuitum ut ipsi in oppidis maneant et suburbana sint pecoribus ac iumentis
They shall have the cities to dwell in. Their pasture lands shall be for their livestock, and for their possessions, and for all their animals.
4 quae a muris civitatum forinsecus per circuitum mille passuum spatio tendentur
“The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it.
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 shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall be the pasture lands of their 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
“The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities.
7 id est simul quadraginta octo cum suburbanis suis
All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their pasture lands.
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
Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many, and from the few you shall take few. Everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give some of his cities to the Levites.”
9 ait Dominus ad Mosen
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
10 loquere filiis Israhel et dices ad eos quando transgressi fueritis Iordanem in terram Chanaan
“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 decernite quae urbes esse debeant in praesidia fugitivorum qui nolentes sanguinem fuderint
then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
12 in quibus cum fuerit profugus cognatus occisi eum non poterit occidere donec stet in conspectu multitudinis et causa illius iudicetur
The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgement.
13 de ipsis autem urbibus quae ad fugitivorum subsidia separantur
The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
14 tres erunt trans Iordanem et tres in terra Chanaan
You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan. They shall be cities of refuge.
15 tam filiis Israhel quam advenis atque peregrinis ut confugiat ad eas qui nolens sanguinem fuderit
These six cities shall be refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living amongst them, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
16 si quis ferro percusserit et mortuus fuerit qui percussus est reus erit homicidii et ipse morietur
“‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
17 si lapidem iecerit et ictus occubuerit similiter punietur
If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
18 si ligno percussus interierit percussoris sanguine vindicabitur
Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death.
19 propinquus occisi homicidam interficiet statim ut adprehenderit eum percutiet
The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20 si per odium quis hominem inpulerit vel iecerit quippiam in eum per insidias
If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died,
21 aut cum esset inimicus manu percusserit et ille mortuus fuerit percussor homicidii reus erit cognatus occisi statim ut invenerit eum iugulabit
or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 quod si fortuito et absque odio
“‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait,
23 et inimicitiis quicquam horum fecerit
or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm,
24 et hoc audiente populo fuerit conprobatum atque inter percussorem et propinquum sanguinis quaestio ventilata
then the congregation shall judge between the striker 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 congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein 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 man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees,
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 the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood,
28 debuerat enim profugus usque ad mortem pontificis in urbe residere postquam autem ille obierit homicida revertetur in terram suam
because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession.
29 haec sempiterna erunt et legitima in cunctis habitationibus vestris
“‘These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30 homicida sub testibus punietur ad unius testimonium nullus condemnabitur
“‘Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain based on the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify alone against any person so that he dies.
31 non accipietis pretium ab eo qui reus est sanguinis statim et ipse morietur
“‘Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death. He shall surely be put to death.
32 exules et profugi ante mortem pontificis nullo modo in urbes suas reverti poterunt
“‘You shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land before 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
“‘So you shall not pollute the land where you live; for blood pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.
34 atque ita emundabitur vestra possessio me commorante vobiscum ego enim sum Dominus qui habito inter filios Israhel
You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, where I dwell; for I, the LORD, dwell amongst the children of Israel.’”
