Numbers 35

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1. 1The LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho.
2. 2Command the Israelites to give the Levites cities to live in from their inherited land. Also, provide the Levites with the surrounding pasturelands for those cities.
3. 3The cities will be their homes, and the surrounding pasturelands will be for their cattle, their property, and all their other animals.
4. 4The pasturelands you give the Levites must extend 1,000 cubits outward from the city walls in every direction.
5. 5Outside the city, measure 2,000 cubits to the east, 2,000 cubits to the south, 2,000 cubits to the west, and 2,000 cubits to the north, with the city at the center. This will be the pasturelands for their cities.
6. 6Among the cities you give to the Levites, there shall be 6 cities for refuge, which you shall appoint for the manslayer to flee to. Add 42 cities to them.
7. 7So the total number of cities given to the Levites will be 48, each with its surrounding pasturelands.
8. 8These cities will come from the land belonging to the other Israelite tribes. Tribes with more land must give more cities, and tribes with less land must give fewer. Each tribe must contribute cities to the Levites in proportion to the territory it receives."
9. 9Then the LORD said to Moses,
10. 10"Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,
11. 11you must designate certain cities as cities of refuge. Anyone who accidentally kills another person can flee to one of these cities for protection.
12. 12These cities will be your places of safety from the avenger of blood, so that the person who killed someone doesn't die before standing trial before the community.
13. 13You must set aside 6 cities of refuge in all.
14. 14Place 3 of them on the east side of the Jordan and 3 in the land of Canaan. All 6 will serve as cities of refuge.
15. 15These 6 cities of refuge will be available not only to Israelites but also to foreigners and immigrants living among you. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may flee to one of them.
16. 16However, if someone strikes another person with an iron weapon and kills them, that person is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.
17. 17If someone strikes another person with a thrown stone, causing death, that person is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.
18. 18If someone strikes another person with a wooden weapon capable of causing death, and the person dies, the attacker is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.
19. 19The avenger of blood is the one who must execute the murderer. When the avenger finds the murderer, the avenger must kill him.
20. 20If someone shoves another person out of hatred, or throws something at them from ambush, and the person dies,
21. 21or if someone strikes another person with their fist out of hostility and the person dies — the attacker must be put to death, because he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he finds him.
22. 22But suppose someone shoves another person suddenly, without any hostility, or throws something at them without lying in wait,
23. 23or drops a stone large enough to kill on someone without seeing them — and the person dies — but the one who did it wasn't an enemy and didn't intend any harm.
24. 24In that case, the community must judge between the one who caused the death and the avenger of blood, following these rules.
25. 25The community must protect the person who caused the death from the avenger of blood and send them back to the city of refuge where they originally fled. That person must stay there until the high priest — the one anointed with holy oil — dies.
26. 26But if the person who caused the death ever leaves the boundaries of the city of refuge where they fled,
27. 27and the avenger of blood finds them outside those boundaries and kills them, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed.
28. 28The person should have stayed inside the city of refuge until the high priest died. Only after the high priest's death may they return to the land they own.
29. 29These rules must be followed as a permanent law throughout all your generations, wherever you live.
30. 30Anyone who kills a person may be put to death only on the testimony of multiple witnesses. No one may be executed based on the testimony of just 1 witness.
31. 31Never accept a ransom payment for the life of a murderer who deserves to die. That person must be put to death.
32. 32Never accept a ransom payment to let someone leave a city of refuge and return home before the high priest has died.
33. 33Do not pollute the land where you live, because bloodshed defiles the land. The only way atonement can be made for the land when blood has been shed on it is through the blood of the one who shed it.
34. 34Do not defile the land where you will live, because I live there too. I am the LORD, and I dwell among the people of Israel."