Numbers 35

¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, near the Jordan opposite Jericho. He said:

² ‘Direct the sons of Israel to make over to the Levites, out of the inheritance they possess, towns in which to live and pasture land round the towns. Give these to the Levites.

³ The towns are to be their homes and the surrounding pasture land is to be for their cattle; their possessions and all their animals.

⁴ The pasture land surrounding the towns that you make over to the Levites shall extend, from the walls of the towns, for a thousand cubits all round.

⁵ ‘Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits to the east side, two thousand cubits to the south, two thousand cubits to the west and two thousand cubits to the north, the town lying in the centre: this is to be the pasture-land for these towns.

⁶ The towns you hand over to the Levites will be the six cities of refuge, ceded by you as sanctuary for men who cause another’s death; and you are to hand over forty-two towns in addition.

⁷ Altogether you will make over forty-eight towns to the Levites, towns together with their pasturage.

⁸ Of the towns that you grant out of the possession or the sons of Israel, more will be taken from those who hold more, and less from those who hold less. Everyone will make over towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance he himself has received.’

⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses and said:

¹⁰ ‘Say this to the sons of Israel:

¹¹ “When you cross the Jordan and reach the land of Canaan, you are to select towns which you will make into cities of refuge where a man who has killed accidentally may find sanctuary.

¹² These towns will be your refuge from the avenger of blood, so that the killer may not die without being brought to judgement before the

¹³ The towns you make over will serve you as six cities of refuge.

¹⁴ the three that you make over beyond the Jordan and the three that you make over in the land of Canaan are to be cities of refuge.

¹⁵ These six towns will be a refuge, for the sons of Israel as well as for the stranger and the settler among you, where anyone who has killed accidentally may find sanctuary

¹⁶ “But if he has struck the person with an iron object so as to cause death, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

¹⁷ If he struck him with a stone capable of killing him, and has killed him, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

¹⁸ Or if he has struck him with a wooden instrument capable of killing, and has killed him, he is a murderer. The murderer must be put to death.

¹⁹ The avenger of blood must put the murder to death. When he meets him he must put him to death.[*a]

²⁰ “If the killer has maliciously manhandled his victim, or thrown some lethal missile to strike him down,

²¹ or out of enmity dealt him the death-blow with his fist, then he who struck the blow must die; he is a murderer; the avenger of blood must put him to death when he meets him.

²² If, however, he has manhandled his victim by chance, without malice, or thrown some missile at him not meaning to hit him,

²³ or without seeing him dropped a stone on him capable of causing death and so killed him, so long as he bore him no malice and wished him no harm,

²⁴ then the community must decide in accordance with these rules between the one who struck the blow and the avenger of blood,

²⁵ and so rescue the killer from the avenger of blood. They will send him back to the city of refuge where he had sought sanctuary, and there he will stay until the death of the high priest who has been anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ If the killer should leave the bounds of the city of refuge where he has sought sanctuary

²⁷ and the avenger of blood encounters him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, the avenger of blood may kill him without fear of reprisal;

²⁸ since the killer should stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest is he free to go back to the land where he has his home.

²⁹ These regulations shall have force of law for you and your descendants, wherever you may be.

³⁰ In any case of homicide, the evidence of witnesses must determine whether the murderer is to be put to death; but the evidence of a single witness is not sufficient to uphold a capital charge.

³¹ You are not to accept ransom for the life of a murderer condemned to death; he must die.

³² Nor are you to accept ransom for anyone who, having sought sanctuary in his city of refuge, wishes to come back and live at home before the death of the high priest.

³³ You must not profane the land you live in. Blood profanes the country, and there is no other expiation for the country for bloodshed than the blood of the one who shed it.

³⁴ You must not defile the land you inhabit, the land in which I live; for I, Yahweh, live among the sons of Israel.”‘