Deuteronomy 19:3-5

New American Standard Bible 1995

³ You shall prepare the ^[a]roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession, ^[b]so that any manslayer may flee there.

⁴ “^(A)Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he ^[c]kills his friend ^[d]unintentionally, ^[e]not hating him previously— ⁵ as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand ^[f]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the ^[g]handle and ^[h]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live;