Numbers 35:1-19 ▼

1 And YHWH speaks to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, [near] Jericho, saying,

2 “Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites cities to inhabit from the inheritance of their possession; you also give [the] outskirt around them, of the cities, to the Levites.

3 And the cities have been for them to inhabit, and their outskirts are for their livestock, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

4 And the outskirts of the cities which you give to the Levites [are], from the wall of the city and outside, one thousand cubits around.

5 And you have measured from the outside of the city: the east quarter—two thousand by the cubit, and the south quarter—two thousand by the cubit, and the west quarter—two thousand by the cubit, and the north quarter—two thousand by the cubit; and the city [is] in the midst; this is the outskirts of the cities to them.

6 And the cities which you give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge, which you give for the fleeing there of the manslayer, and besides them you give forty-two cities;

7 all the cities which you give to the Levites [are] forty-eight cities, them and their outskirts.

8 And the cities which you give [are] from the possession of the sons of Israel; from the many you multiply, and from the few you diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, gives to the Levites from his cities.”

9 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you have said to them: When you are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan,

11 and have prepared cities for yourselves—they are cities of refuge to you—then a manslayer, striking a person through ignorance, has fled there,

12 and the cities have been for a refuge to you from the redeemer, and the manslayer does not die until his standing before the congregation for judgment.

13 As for the cities which you give, six [are] cities of refuge to you;

14 three of the cities you give from beyond the Jordan, and three of the cities you give in the land of Canaan; they are cities of refuge.

15 For sons of Israel, and for a sojourner, and for a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing there of anyone striking a person through ignorance.

16 And if he has struck him with an instrument of iron, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

17 And if he has struck him with a stone [in] the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

18 Or [if] he has struck him with a wooden instrument [in] the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.

19 The redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death himself; in his coming against him he puts him to death.