Numbers 35
35
The Levites’ Towns
1The Lord spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab. This was across from Jericho by the Jordan River. He said, 2“Command the Israelites to give the Levites cities to live in. These will be cities in the land they receive. Also give the Levites the pastureland around these cities. 3Then the Levites will have cities where they may live. And they will have pastureland for their cattle, sheep and other animals. 4The pastureland you give the Levites will extend 1,500 feet from the city wall. 5Also measure 3,000 feet in each direction from the city wall. Measure 3,000 feet east of the city. Measure 3,000 feet south of the city. Measure 3,000 feet west of the city. And measure 3,000 feet north of the city. The city will be in the center. This will be pastureland for the Levites’ cities.
Cities of Safety
6“Six of the cities you give the Levites will be cities of safety. A person might accidentally kill someone. If he does, he may run to one of those cities for safety. You must also give 42 other cities to the Levites. 7Give the Levites a total of 48 cities and their pastures. 8The larger tribes of Israel must give more cities. The smaller tribes must give fewer cities. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the Levites. The number of cities they give will depend on the size of their land.”
9Then the Lord said to Moses, 10“Tell the Israelites these things: ‘You will cross the Jordan River and go into Canaan. 11You must choose cities to be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, he may run to them for safety. 12There he will be safe from the dead person’s relative who has the duty of punishing the killer. He will not die before he is judged in court. 13The six cities you give will be cities of safety. 14Give three cities east of the Jordan River. And give three cities in Canaan as cities of safety. 15These six cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel. And they will be for foreigners and other people living with you. Any of these people may run to one of these cities if he accidentally kills someone.
16“‘If a person uses an iron weapon to kill someone, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. 17A person might take a rock that could kill someone. If he kills a person with it, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. 18A person might pick up a piece of wood that could kill someone. If he kills someone with it, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. 19A relative of the dead person must put the murderer to death. When he finds the murderer, he must kill him. 20A person might shove someone and kill him. Or he might throw something at someone and kill him. 21Or he might hit someone with his hand and kill him. If he did that from hate, he is a murderer. He must be put to death. A relative of the dead person must kill the murderer when he finds him.
22“‘But a person might suddenly shove someone. He did not hate the person. Or he might accidentally throw something and hit someone. 23Or he might drop a rock that could kill someone. It might fall on someone he did not see. And it might kill that person. He didn’t plan to hurt anyone. He didn’t hate the person he killed. 24If that happens, the community must decide what to do. They must decide between the relative of the dead person and the killer. Here are the rules. 25They must protect the killer from the dead person’s relative. They must send the killer back to the city of safety that he ran to. He must stay there until the high priest dies. The high priest had the holy oil poured on him.
26“‘That man must never go outside the limits of his city of safety. 27If a relative of the dead person finds him outside the city, the relative may kill him. He will not be guilty of murder. 28The killer must stay in his city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, he may go back to his own land.
29“‘These laws are for you from now on, wherever you live.
30“‘A killer may be put to death only if he is a murderer. And there must be witnesses. No one may be put to death with only one witness.
31“‘A murderer should die. Don’t take money to spare his life. He must be put to death.
32“‘A person might run to a city of safety. Don’t take money to let him go back home before the high priest dies.
33“‘Don’t let murder spoil your land. There is only one way to remove the sin of killing an innocent person. The murderer must be put to death. 34I am the Lord. I live among the Israelites. I live in that land with you. So do not spoil it with murder.’”
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Numbers 35
35
The Levites’ Towns
1The Lord spoke to Moses. This was in the Jordan Valley in Moab, near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. He said, 2“Tell the Israelites that they should give some of the cities in their part of the land to the Levites. The Israelites should give these cities and the pastures around them to the Levites. 3The Levites will be able to live in them. And all the cattle and other animals that belong to the Levites will be able to eat from the pastures around these cities. 4How much of your land should you give to the Levites? From the walls of the cities, go out 1500 feet#35:4 1500 feet Literally, “1000 cubits” (444 m). The people probably let their sheep and cattle use this land.—all of that land will belong to the Levites. 5Measure off an area around the city for the Levites. Start at the northeast corner and measure 3000 feet#35:5 3000 feet Literally, “2000 cubits” (1037 m). The Levites probably used this land for gardens and vineyards. to the south. Then from this corner, measure 3000 feet to the west. From there measure 3000 feet to the north and from that corner, 3000 feet to the east. The city will be in the center of this area. 6Six of those cities will be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, that person can run to those towns for safety. In addition to those six cities, you will also give 42 more cities to the Levites. 7So you will give a total of 48 cities to the Levites. You will also give them the land around those cities. 8The large tribes of Israel will get large pieces of land. The small tribes of Israel will get small pieces of land. So the large tribes will give more cities and the small tribes will give fewer cities to the Levites.”
9Then the Lord said to Moses, 10“Tell the people this: You will cross the Jordan River and go into the land of Canaan. 11You must choose towns to be cities of safety. If someone accidentally kills another person, that person can run to one of those towns for safety. 12That person will be safe from anyone from the dead man’s family who wants to punish the killer until that person is judged in court. 13There will be six cities of safety. 14Three of them will be east of the Jordan River and three of them will be in the land of Canaan, west of the Jordan River. 15These cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel and for foreigners and travelers. Any of these people will be able to run to one of these cities if they accidentally kill someone.
16“If you use an iron weapon#35:16 iron weapon This shows that the murderer chose a weapon he knew could kill the other person. to kill someone, you are a murderer, and you must die. 17If you use a rock large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die. 18If you use a piece of wood large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die. 19A member of the dead person’s family#35:19 member of the dead person’s family Literally, “the blood avenger.” Also in verses 20-21, 24, 26-27. can chase you and kill you.
20-21“You might hit someone with your hand or push someone or throw something at them and kill them. If you did that from hate, you are a murderer, and you must be killed. A member of the dead person’s family can chase you and kill you.
22“You might accidentally kill someone, maybe by pushing or by accidentally hitting them with a tool or weapon. 23Perhaps you threw a rock that was large enough to kill, but it hit someone you didn’t see and killed them. You didn’t plan to kill anyone. You didn’t hate the person you killed—it was only an accident. 24If that happens, the community must decide what to do. The court must decide if a member of the dead person’s family can kill you. 25If the community decides to protect you from the dead person’s family, the community must take you back to your city of safety. You must stay there until the official high priest#35:25 official high priest Literally, “the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.” dies.
26-27“You must never go outside the limits of your city of safety. If you do and if a member of the dead person’s family catches you and kills you, that family member will not be guilty of murder. 28Whoever accidentally killed someone must stay in their city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, that person can go back to their own land. 29These rules will be the law forever in all the towns of your people.
30“A killer should be put to death as a murderer only if there are witnesses. No one can be put to death if there is only one witness.
31“A murderer must be put to death. Don’t take money to change the punishment. That murderer must be killed.
32“If a person killed someone and then ran to one of the cities of safety, don’t take money to let that person go home. That person must stay in that city until the high priest dies.
33“Don’t let your land be polluted with innocent blood. If a person murders someone, the only payment for that crime is that the murderer must be killed! There is no other payment that will free the land from that crime. 34I am the Lord. I will be living in your country with the Israelites, so don’t make it unclean with the blood of innocent people.”
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