| Berean Study Bible | NET Bible |
| 1Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: | 1Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. He said: |
| 2“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. | 2"Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. |
| 3The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock. | 3Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. |
| 4The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side. | 4The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards from the town wall. |
| 5You 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. | 5"You must measure from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. |
| 6Six 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. | 6Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. And you must give them forty-two other towns. |
| 7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands. | 7"So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. |
| 8The 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.” | 8The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each. |
| 9Then the LORD said to Moses, | 9Then the LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 10“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, | 10"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, |
| 11designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. | 11you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. |
| 12You 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. | 12And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. |
| 13The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. | 13These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. |
| 14Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge. | 14"You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. |
| 15These 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. | 15These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there. |
| 16If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. | 16"But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. |
| 17Or 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. | 17If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. |
| 18If 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. | 18Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. |
| 19The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him. | 19The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. |
| 20Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him, | 20"But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, |
| 21or 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. | 21or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him. |
| 22But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally, | 22"But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, |
| 23or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him, | 23or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, |
| 24then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. | 24then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. |
| 25The 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. | 25The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. |
| 26But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled | 26But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, |
| 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed | 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, |
| 28because 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. | 28because the slayer should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. |
| 29This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live. | 29So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live. |
| 30If 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. | 30"Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony of witnesses; but one witness cannot testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. |
| 31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death. | 31Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. |
| 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. | 32And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home 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. | 33"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. |
| 34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.” | 34Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the LORD live among the Israelites." |
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