Numbers 35:33
New International Version
“’Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

New Living Translation
This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder.

English Standard Version
You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Berean Standard Bible
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.

King James Bible
So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

New King James Version
So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

New American Standard Bible
So you shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

NASB 1995
‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

NASB 1977
‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

Legacy Standard Bible
So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land, and no propitiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

Amplified Bible
So you shall not pollute and defile the land in which you live; for [the shedding of innocent] blood pollutes and defiles the land. No atonement (expiation) can be made for the land for the [innocent] blood shed in it, except by the blood (execution) of him who shed it.

Christian Standard Bible
“Do not defile the land where you live, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Do not defile the land where you are, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

American Standard Version
So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And you shall not defile the land in which you dwell, because blood defiles the land, and the land where blood is shed will not be spared for it unless the blood of him who shed it is shed in it.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
So shall ye not pollute with murder the land in which ye dwell; for this blood pollutes the land, and the land shall not be purged from the blood shed upon it, but by the blood of him that shed it.

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

English Revised Version
So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land: and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"You must not pollute the land where you live. Murder is what pollutes the land. The land where a murder was committed can never make peace with the LORD except through the death of the murderer.

Good News Translation
If you did this, you would defile the land where you are living. Murder defiles the land, and except by the death of the murderer there is no way to perform the ritual of purification for the land where someone has been murdered.

International Standard Version
You are not to pollute the land where you live, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot atone for blood that has been spilled on it, except through the blood of the one who spilled it.

JPS Tanakh 1917
So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

Literal Standard Version
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;

Majority Standard Bible
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.

New American Bible
You will not pollute the land where you live. For bloodshed pollutes the land, and the land can have no expiation for the blood shed on it except through the blood of the one who shed it.

NET Bible
"You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

New Heart English Bible
"'So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood, it pollutes the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, but by the blood of him who shed it.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
“‘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.

Young's Literal Translation
And ye profane not the land which ye are in, for blood profaneth the land; as to the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheddeth it;

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Six Cities of Refuge
32Nor 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. 33Do 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. 34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”…

Cross References
Genesis 4:10
"What have you done?" replied the LORD. "The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.

Genesis 9:6
Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man his blood will be shed; for in His own image God has made mankind.

Numbers 35:32
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.

Deuteronomy 19:10
Thus innocent blood will not be shed in the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that you will not be guilty of bloodshed.

Deuteronomy 21:7
and they shall declare, "Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it.

Deuteronomy 21:8
Accept this atonement, O LORD, for Your people Israel whom You have redeemed, and do not hold the shedding of innocent blood against them." And the bloodshed will be atoned for.

Judges 9:24
in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.


Treasury of Scripture

So you shall not pollute the land wherein you are: for blood it defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.

it defileth

Leviticus 18:25
And the land is defiled: therefore I do visit the iniquity thereof upon it, and the land itself vomiteth out her inhabitants.

Deuteronomy 21:1-8,23
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him: …

2 Kings 23:26
Notwithstanding the LORD turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal.

the land cannot be cleansed.

Jump to Previous
Atonement Blood Bloodshed Cause Cleansed Death Defileth Except Expiation Live Makes Making Pardoned Polluteth Profane Profaneth Shed Sheddeth Therein Unholy Way Wherein
Jump to Next
Atonement Blood Bloodshed Cause Cleansed Death Defileth Except Expiation Live Makes Making Pardoned Polluteth Profane Profaneth Shed Sheddeth Therein Unholy Way Wherein
Numbers 35
1. Forty-eight cities for the Levites, with their suburbs, and measure thereof
6. Six of them are to be cities of refuge
9. The laws of murder and manslaughter
31. No satisfaction for murder














Verse 33. - The land cannot be cleansed. Literally, "there is no expiation (יְכֻפַר) for the land." Septuagint, οὐχ ἐξιλασθήσεται ἡ γῆ. By these expressions the Lord places the sin of murder in its true light, as a sin against himself. The land, his land, is defiled with the blood of the slain, and nothing can do away with the guilt which cleaves to it but the strict execution of Divine justice upon the murderer. Money might satisfy the relatives of the slain, but cannot satisfy his Maker.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Do not
וְלֹֽא־ (wə·lō-)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

pollute
תַחֲנִ֣יפוּ (ṯa·ḥă·nî·p̄ū)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - second person masculine plural
Strong's 2610: To be polluted or profane

the land
הָאָ֗רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

where
אֲשֶׁ֤ר (’ă·šer)
Pronoun - relative
Strong's 834: Who, which, what, that, when, where, how, because, in order that

you
אַתֶּם֙ (’at·tem)
Pronoun - second person masculine plural
Strong's 859: Thou and thee, ye and you

live,
בָּ֔הּ (bāh)
Preposition | third person feminine singular
Strong's Hebrew

for
כִּ֣י (kî)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

bloodshed
הַדָּ֔ם (had·dām)
Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1818: Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed

pollutes
יַחֲנִ֖יף (ya·ḥă·nîp̄)
Verb - Hifil - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 2610: To be polluted or profane

the land,
הָאָ֑רֶץ (hā·’ā·reṣ)
Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

and no
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

atonement can be made
יְכֻפַּ֗ר (yə·ḵup·par)
Verb - Pual - Imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 3722: To cover, to expiate, condone, to placate, cancel

for the land
וְלָאָ֣רֶץ (wə·lā·’ā·reṣ)
Conjunctive waw, Preposition-l, Article | Noun - feminine singular
Strong's 776: Earth, land

on which the blood
לַדָּם֙ (lad·dām)
Preposition-l, Article | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 1818: Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed

is shed,
שֻׁפַּךְ־ (šup·paḵ-)
Verb - QalPass - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 8210: To spill forth, to expend, to sprawl out

except
כִּי־ (kî-)
Conjunction
Strong's 3588: A relative conjunction

by the blood
בְּדַ֥ם (bə·ḏam)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 1818: Blood, of man, an animal, the juice of the grape, bloodshed

of the one who shed it.
שֹׁפְכֽוֹ׃ (šō·p̄ə·ḵōw)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 8210: To spill forth, to expend, to sprawl out


Links
Numbers 35:33 NIV
Numbers 35:33 NLT
Numbers 35:33 ESV
Numbers 35:33 NASB
Numbers 35:33 KJV

Numbers 35:33 BibleApps.com
Numbers 35:33 Biblia Paralela
Numbers 35:33 Chinese Bible
Numbers 35:33 French Bible
Numbers 35:33 Catholic Bible

OT Law: Numbers 35:33 So you shall not pollute the land (Nu Num.)
Numbers 35:32
Top of Page
Top of Page