Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 35
35
1And יהוה spoke to Mosheh in the desert plains of Mo’aḇ by the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo, saying,
2“Command the children of Yisra’ĕl that they shall give the Lĕwites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession. Also give the Lĕwites open land around the cities.
3“And they shall have the cities to dwell in, and their open land for their cattle, and for their herds, and for all their livestock.
4“And the open land of the cities which you give the Lĕwites are from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.
5“And 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. And the city is in the middle. This is to them the open land for the cities.
6“And the cities which you give to the Lĕwites are the six cities of refuge, which you give to the man-slayer to flee to, and to these you add forty-two cities.
7“All the cities which you give to the Lĕwites are forty-eight, these with their open land.
8And the cities which you give are from the possession of the children of Yisra’ĕl. From the larger tribe you give many, from the smaller you give few, each one gives some of its cities to the Lĕwites, in proportion to the inheritance that each inherits.”
9And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
10“Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you pass over the Yardĕn into the land of Kena‛an,
11then you shall choose cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man-slayer who struck someone mistakenly shall flee there.
12And they shall be cities of refuge for you from the revenger, and the man-slayer is not to die until he stands before the congregation for right-ruling.
13And of the cities which you give, six are to be cities of refuge.
14Give three cities beyond the Yardĕn, and give three cities in the land of Kena‛an, as cities of refuge.
15These six cities are for refuge for the children of Yisra’ĕl, and for the sojourner, and for the settler in their midst, for anyone who mistakenly strikes someone to flee there.
16But if he has stricken him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
17And if he has stricken him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
18Or if he has stricken him with a wooden instrument that could kill, and he does die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
19The revenger of blood himself puts the murderer to death. When he meets him, he puts him to death.
20And if he thrusts him through in hatred, or throws an object at him while lying in wait, so that he dies,”
21or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall certainly be put to death, for he is a murderer. The revenger of blood puts the murderer to death when he meets him.
22But if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws an object at him without lying in wait,
23or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm,
24then the congregation shall judge between him who struck someone and the revenger of blood, according to these right-rulings.
25And the congregation shall rescue the man-slayer from the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the set-apart oil.
26But if the man-slayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled,
27and the revenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the revenger of blood executes the man-slayer, he is not 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 man-slayer is to return to the land of his possession.
29And these shall be for a law of right-ruling to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30Whoever strikes a being, the murderer shall be executed by the mouth of witnesses, but one witness does not bear witness against someone to die.
31And take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly be put to death.
32And take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge to return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.
33And do not profane the land where you are, for blood profanes the land, and the land is not pardoned for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
34And do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, יהוה, am dwelling in the midst of the children of Yisra’ĕl.’ ”
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Bemiḏbar (Numbers) 35: TS2009
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Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.
Numbers 35
35
Cities for Levites and Asylum-Cities
1-3Then God spoke to Moses on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho: “Command the People of Israel to give the Levites as their part of the total inheritance towns to live in. Make sure there is plenty of pasture around the towns. Then they will be well taken care of with towns to live in and pastures for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock.
4-5“The pasture surrounding the Levites’ towns is to extend 1,500 feet in each direction from the city wall. The outside borders of the pasture are to measure three thousand feet on each of the four sides—east, south, west, and north—with the town at the center. Each city will be supplied with pasture.
6-8“Six of these towns that you give the Levites will be asylum-cities to which anyone who accidentally kills another person may flee for asylum. In addition, you will give them forty-two other towns—forty-eight towns in all, together with their pastures. The towns that you give the Levites from the common inheritance of the People of Israel are to be taken in proportion to the size of each tribe—many towns from a tribe that has many, few from a tribe that has few.”
9-15 God spoke to Moses: “Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you cross the River Jordan into the country of Canaan, designate your asylum-cities, towns to which a person who accidentally kills someone can flee for asylum. They will be places of refuge from the avenger so that the alleged murderer won’t be killed until he can appear before the community in court. Provide six asylum-cities. Designate three of the towns to the east side of the Jordan, the other three in Canaan proper—asylum-cities for the People of Israel, for the foreigner, and for any occasional visitors or guests—six asylum-cities to run to for anyone who accidentally kills another.
16“But if the killer has used an iron object, that’s just plain murder; he’s obviously a murderer and must be put to death.
17“Or if he has a rock in his hand big enough to kill and the man dies, that’s murder; he’s a murderer and must be put to death.
18“Or if he’s carrying a wooden club heavy enough to kill and the man dies, that’s murder; he’s a murderer and must be put to death.
19“In such cases the avenger has a right to kill the murderer when he meets him—he can kill him on the spot.
20-21“And if out of sheer hatred a man pushes another or from ambush throws something at him and he dies, or angrily hits him with his fist and kills him, that’s murder—he must be put to death. The avenger has a right to kill him when he gets him.
22-27“If, however, he impulsively pushes someone and there is no history of hard feelings, or he impetuously picks up something and throws it, or he accidentally drops a stone tool—a maul or hammer, say—and it hits and kills someone he didn’t even know was there, and there’s no suspicion that there was bad blood between them, the community is to judge between the killer and the avenger following these guidelines. It’s the task of the community to save the killer from the hand of the avenger—the community is to return him to his asylum-city to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the High Priest who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the murderer leaves the asylum-city to which he has fled, and the avenger finds him outside the borders of his asylum-city, the avenger has a right to kill the murderer. And he’s not considered guilty of murder.
28“So it’s important that he stay in his asylum-city until the death of the High Priest. After the death of the High Priest he is free to return to his own place.
* * *
29“These are the procedures for making judgments from now on, wherever you live.
30“Anyone who kills another may be executed only on the testimony of eyewitnesses. But no one can be executed on the testimony of only one witness.
31“Don’t accept bribe money in exchange for the life of a murderer. He’s guilty and deserves the death penalty. Put him to death.
32“And don’t accept bribe money for anyone who has fled to an asylum-city so as to permit him to go back and live in his own place before the death of the High Priest.
33“Don’t pollute the land in which you live. Murder pollutes the land. The land can’t be cleaned up of the blood of murder except through the blood of the murderer.
34“Don’t desecrate the land in which you live. I live here, too—I, God, live in the same neighborhood with the People of Israel.”
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.