Numbers 35
35
1And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2Command the children of Israel, that they give unto the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites. 3And the cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their beasts. 4And the suburbs of the cities, which ye shall give unto the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about. 5And ye shall measure without the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. 6And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which ye shall give for the manslayer to flee thither: and beside them ye shall give forty and two cities. 7All the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with their suburbs. 8And concerning the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many ye shall take many; and from the few ye shall take few: every one according to his inheritance which he inheriteth shall give of his cities unto the Levites.
9And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 10Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the manslayer which killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither. 12And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgement. 13And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. 14Ye shall give three cities beyond Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. 15For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge: that every one that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither. 16But if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a manslayer: the manslayer shall surely be put to death. 17And if he smote him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a manslayer: the manslayer shall surely be put to death. 18Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a manslayer: the manslayer shall surely be put to death. 19The avenger of blood shall himself put the manslayer to death: when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death. 20And if he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died; 21or in enmity smote him with his hand, that he died: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; he is a manslayer: the avenger of blood shall put the manslayer to death, when he meeteth him. 22But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him any thing without lying in wait, 23or with any stone, whereby a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: 24then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these judgements: 25and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. 26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, whither he fleeth; 27and the avenger of blood find him without the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slay the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: 28because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. 29And these things shall be for a statute of judgement unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30Whoso killeth any person, the manslayer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die. 31Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a manslayer, which is guilty of death: but he shall surely be put to death. 32And ye shall take no ransom for him that is fled to his city of refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood, it polluteth the land: and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. 34And thou shalt not defile the land which ye inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.
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historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
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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