| Holman Christian Standard Bible | Berean Study Bible |
| 1The LORD again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:" | 1Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: |
| 2Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities. | 2“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities. |
| 3The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals. | 3The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock. |
| 4The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall 500 yards on every side. | 4The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side. |
| 5Measure 1,000 yards outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards for the south side, 1,000 yards for the west side, and 1,000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities." | 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. |
| 6The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities. | 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. |
| 7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands. | 7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands. |
| 8Of the cities that you give from the Israelites' territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives." | 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.” |
| 9The LORD said to Moses, " | 9Then the LORD said to Moses, |
| 10Speak 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 the Jordan into the land of Canaan, |
| 11designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. | 11designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. |
| 12You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. | 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. |
| 13The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. | 13The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. |
| 14Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge. | 14Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge. |
| 15These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there." | 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. |
| 16If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. | 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. |
| 17If a man has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must 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. |
| 18If a man has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must 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. |
| 19The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him. | 19The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him. |
| 20Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies, | 20Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him, |
| 21or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him." | 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. |
| 22But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent | 22But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally, |
| 23or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and wasn't trying to harm him, | 23or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him, |
| 24the assembly is to judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. | 24then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. |
| 25The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil." | 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. |
| 26If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to, | 26But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled |
| 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, | 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 |
| 28for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses. | 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. |
| 29These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live." | 29This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live. |
| 30If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness. | 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. |
| 31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of killing someone; he must 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. |
| 32Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest." | 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 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. | 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 make the land unclean where you live and where I reside; for I, Yahweh, reside among the Israelites." | 34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.” |
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