Numbers 35:1-12 ▼

1 The LORD again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

2 “Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.

3 The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals.

4 The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall five hundred yards on every side.

5 Measure a thousand yards outside the city for the east side, a thousand yards for the south side, a thousand yards for the west side, and a thousand yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

6 “The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you will provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give forty-two other cities.

7 The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, along with their pasturelands.

8 Of 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.”

9 The LORD said to Moses,

10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11 designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

12 You 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.