35:1 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,
35:2 “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.
35:3 Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for their cattle, flocks and all their other livestock.
35:4 “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend out fifteen hundred feet from the town wall.
35:5 Outside the town, measure three thousand feet on the east side, three thousand on the south side, three thousand on the west and three thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.
35:6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.
35:7 In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands.
35:8 The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”
35:9 Then the LORD said to Moses:
35:10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
35:11 select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.
35:12 They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly.
35:13 These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.
35:14 Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.
35:15 These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
35:16 “‘If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
35:17 Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
35:18 Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
35:19 The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
35:20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies
35:21 or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
35:22 “‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally
35:23 or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him,
35:24 the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.
35:25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
35:26 “‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled
35:27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
35:28 The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.
35:29 “‘These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.
35:30 “‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
35:31 “‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.
35:32 “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
35:33 “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
35:34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.’”
35:1 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
35:2 Command the children of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around their cities.
35:3 And the cities shall be for them to dwell in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their animals.
35:4 And the pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be from the city wall and outward, a thousand cubits all around.
35:5 And you shall measure from the outside of 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, with the city in the center. This shall be their pasture lands for the cities.
35:6 And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.
35:7 All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their pasture lands.
35:8 And concerning the cities which you shall give from the possession of the children of Israel, from the larger tribe you shall take a larger number, and from the smaller tribe you shall take a smaller number; each one, according to its inheritance which they will inherit, shall give some of its cities to the Levites.
35:9 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
35:10 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
35:11 Then you shall designate for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, so that the manslayer who kills any person unintentionally may flee there.
35:12 And the cities shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer may not die unless he stands before the assembly for judgment.
35:13 And the cities which you shall give shall be your six cities of refuge.
35:14 You shall give three cities across the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
35:15 For the children of Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
35:16 But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
35:17 And if he struck him with a stone in hand, by which one could die, and he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
35:18 Or if he struck him with a wooden object in hand, by which one could die, and he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
35:19 The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he encounters him, he shall put him to death.
35:20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or threw something upon him while lying in wait, and he died,
35:21 Or in enmity struck him with his hand, and he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he encounters him.
35:22 But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or threw upon him anything without lying in wait,
35:23 Or came upon him with any stone, by which someone could die, without seeing him and dropped it upon him, and he died, when he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm,
35:24 Then the assembly shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
35:25 And the assembly shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly shall return him to his city of refuge to which he had fled; and he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
35:26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundary of his city of refuge to which he has fled,
35:27 And the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundary of his city of refuge and the avenger of blood slays the manslayer, he shall not have guilt for blood,
35:28 Because 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 to the land of his possession.
35:29 And these things shall be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
35:30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be slain upon the testimony of witnesses; but one witness shall not testify against any person so that he die.
35:31 Moreover you shall not take a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
35:32 And you shall not take a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the high priest.
35:33 Thus you shall not pollute the land in which you are, for blood pollutes the land. And no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
35:34 And you shall not defile the land in which you are dwelling, in the midst of which I tabernacle; for I Jehovah tabernacle in the midst of the children of Israel.
