New Living Translation

English Standard Version

1While Israel was camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,

1The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

2“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands.

2“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities.

3These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock.

3The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.

4The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet from the town walls in every direction.

4The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.

5Measure off 3,000 feet outside the town walls in every direction—east, south, west, north—with the town at the center. This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the towns.

5And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

6“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.

6“The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

7In all, forty-eight towns with the surrounding pastureland will be given to the Levites.

7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands.

8These towns will come from the property of the people of Israel. The larger tribes will give more towns to the Levites, while the smaller tribes will give fewer. Each tribe will give property in proportion to the size of its land.” Cities of Refuge

8And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

9The LORD said to Moses,

9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

10“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally.

11then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.

12These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community.

12The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

13Designate six cities of refuge for yourselves,

13And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge.

14three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west in the land of Canaan.

14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.

15These cities are for the protection of Israelites, foreigners living among you, and traveling merchants. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may flee there for safety.

15These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

16“But if someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the murderer must be executed.

16“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.

17Or if someone with a stone in his hand strikes and kills another person, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death.

17And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.

18Or if someone strikes and kills another person with a wooden object, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death.

18Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.

19The victim’s nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the avenger must put the murderer to death.

19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

20So if someone hates another person and waits in ambush, then pushes him or throws something at him and he dies, it is murder.

20And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died,

21Or if someone hates another person and hits him with a fist and he dies, it is murder. In such cases, the avenger must put the murderer to death when they meet.

21or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

22“But suppose someone pushes another person without having shown previous hostility, or throws something that unintentionally hits another person,

22“But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait

23or accidentally drops a huge stone on someone, though they were not enemies, and the person dies.

23or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm,

24If this should happen, the community must follow these regulations in making a judgment between the slayer and the avenger, the victim’s nearest relative:

24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules.

25The community must protect the slayer from the avenger and must escort the slayer back to live in the city of refuge to which he fled. There he must remain until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the sacred oil.

25And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

26“But if the slayer ever leaves the limits of the city of refuge,

26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled,

27and the avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered murder.

27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.

28The slayer should have stayed inside the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to his own property.

28For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

29These are legal requirements for you to observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live.

29And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

30“All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

30“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

31Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death.

31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death.

32And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest.

32And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest.

33This 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.

33You 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.

34You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the LORD, who lives among the people of Israel.”

34You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.