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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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
Numbers 35
35
The Towns for the Levites
1 #
Js 21.1-42. While the people of Israel were still camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Lord told Moses 2to say to them:
When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe. 3That way, the Levites will have towns to live in and pastures for their animals. 4-5The pasture around each of these towns must be in the shape of a square, with the town itself in the center. The pasture is to measure 900 meters on each side, with 450 meters of land outside each of the town walls. This will be the Levites' pastureland.
6Six of the towns you give them will be Safe Towns where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. But you will also give the Levites 42 other towns, 7so they will have a total of 48 towns with their surrounding pastures.
8Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel's own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.
The Safe Towns
(Deuteronomy 19.1-13; Joshua 20.1-9)
9 #
Dt 19.2-4; Js 20.1-9. The Lord then told Moses 10to tell the people of Israel:
After you have crossed the Jordan River and are settled in Canaan, 11choose Safe Towns, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. 12If the victim's relatives think it was murder, they might try to take revenge.#35.12 the victim's relatives … revenge: At this time in Israel's history, the clan would appoint the closest male relative to find and kill a person who had killed a member of their clan. Anyone accused of murder can run to one of these Safe Towns for protection and not be killed before a trial is held.
13There are to be six of these Safe Towns, 14three on each side of the Jordan River. 15They will be places of protection for anyone who lives in Israel and accidentally kills someone.
Laws about Murder and Accidental Killing
The Lord said:
16-18Suppose you hit someone with a piece of iron or a large stone or a dangerous wooden tool. If that person dies, then you are a murderer and must be put to death 19by one of the victim's relatives. He will take revenge#35.19 the victim's relatives … revenge: See the note at 35.12.for his relative's death as soon as he finds you.
20-21Or suppose you get angry and kill someone by pushing or hitting or by throwing something. You are a murderer and must be put to death by one of the victim's relatives.
22-24But if you are not angry and accidentally kill someone in any of these ways, the townspeople must hold a trial and decide if you are guilty. 25If they decide that you are innocent, you will be protected from the victim's relative and sent to stay in one of the Safe Towns until the high priest dies. 26But if you ever leave the Safe Town 27and are killed by the victim's relative, he cannot be punished for killing you. 28You must stay inside the town until the high priest dies; only then can you go back home.
29The community of Israel must always obey these laws.
30 #
Dt 17.5-7; 19.15. Death is the penalty for murder. But no one accused of murder can be put to death unless there are at least two witnesses to the crime. 31You cannot give someone money to escape the death penalty; you must pay with your own life! 32And if you have been proven innocent of murder and are living in a Safe Town, you cannot pay to go back home; you must stay there until the high priest dies.
33-34I, the Lord, live among you people of Israel, so your land must be kept pure. But when a murder takes place, blood pollutes the land, and it becomes unclean. If that happens, the murderer must be put to death, so the land will be clean again. Keep murder out of Israel!
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.