Numbers 35:32-34

Evangelical Heritage Version

³² You are not to accept a ransom for the one who has fled to a city of refuge in order to allow him to return to live in his land before the death of the priest.

³³ So you are not to pollute the land where you are, because bloodshed pollutes the land. No atonement can be made for the land where blood has been shed except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ You are not to defile the land in which you are living, where I am dwelling in its midst, for I, the Lord, am dwelling in the midst of the people of Israel.