Cities of Refuge

The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the (A)six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. The total number of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall be (B)forty-eight cities, [a]together with their pasture lands. (C)As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”

Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 (D)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 (E)then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your (F)cities of refuge, so that the one who commits manslaughter by [b]killing a person (G)unintentionally may flee there. 12 (H)The cities shall [c]serve you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who commits manslaughter does not die until he stands before the congregation for [d]trial. 13 So the cities which you are to provide shall be six cities of refuge for you. 14 You (I)shall provide three cities across the Jordan, and three cities [e]in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be a refuge for the sons of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreign resident among them; so that anyone who [f]kills a person (J)unintentionally may flee there.

16 (K)But if he struck him with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. 17 And if he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer (L)must be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he would die, and as a result he did die, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. 19 The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he himself shall put him to death when he meets him. 20 Now (M)if he pushed him in hatred, or he threw something at him [g](N)with malicious intent, and as a result he died, 21 or if he struck him with his hand with hostility, and as a result he died, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

22 (O)But if he pushed him suddenly, without hostility, or threw any object at him without [h]malicious intent, 23 or had any [i]deadly stone, and without looking he dropped it on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor was he seeking [j]to harm him, 24 then (P)the congregation shall judge between the one who fatally struck the victim and the blood avenger in accordance with these ordinances. 25 And the congregation shall save the one who committed manslaughter from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall return him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if at any time [k]he goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he flees, 27 and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills [l]him, he [m]will not be guilty of bloodshed, 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 one who committed manslaughter may return to the land of his property.

29 ‘These things shall be a (Q)statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

30 (R)If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the [n]testimony of witnesses, but (S)no person shall be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is [o]condemned to death, but he must be put to death. 32 And you shall not accept a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, so that he may return to live in the land [p]before the death of the priest. 33 (T)So you shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except (U)by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 So you shall not (V)defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which (W)I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 35:7 Lit them together with
  2. Numbers 35:11 Lit fatally striking
  3. Numbers 35:12 Lit be to you
  4. Numbers 35:12 Lit judgment
  5. Numbers 35:14 Lit you shall give in
  6. Numbers 35:15 Lit strikes
  7. Numbers 35:20 Lit in pursuit
  8. Numbers 35:22 Lit pursuit
  9. Numbers 35:23 Lit stone by which he would die
  10. Numbers 35:23 Lit his harm
  11. Numbers 35:26 Lit the one who committed manslaughter
  12. Numbers 35:27 Lit the one who committed manslaughter
  13. Numbers 35:27 Lit he has no bloodguilt
  14. Numbers 35:30 Lit mouth
  15. Numbers 35:31 Lit guilty
  16. Numbers 35:32 Or until

41 (A)Then Moses set apart three cities across the Jordan to the [a]east, 42 for [b]one to flee there who unintentionally killed his neighbor, without having hatred for him in time past; and by fleeing to one of these cities he might live: 43 (B)Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau for the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan for the Manassites.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 4:41 Lit sunrise
  2. Deuteronomy 4:42 Lit one who committed manslaughter

(A)you shall set aside for yourself three cities in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you to [a]possess. You shall prepare the [b]roads for yourself, and divide into three regions the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as an inheritance, [c]so that anyone who commits manslaughter may flee there.

(B)Now this is the case of the one who commits manslaughter, who may flee there and live: when he [d]kills his friend [e]unintentionally, [f]not hating him previously— as when a person goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand [g]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the [h]handle and [i]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live. Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue [j]him [k]in the heat of his anger, and overtake him because the way is long, and [l]take his life, though he was not sentenced to death since he had not hated him previously. Therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside for yourself three cities.’

“And if the Lord your God (C)enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land that He [m]promised to give your fathers— if you [n]carefully follow all of this commandment which I am commanding you today, (D)to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—(E)then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three. 10 So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, and (F)guilt for bloodshed will not be on you.

11 “But (G)if there is a person who hates his neighbor, and waits in ambush for him and rises up against him and strikes [o]him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 then the elders of his city shall send men and take him from there, and hand him over to the avenger of blood, so that he may die. 13 [p](H)You shall not pity him, but (I)you shall eliminate the guilt for the bloodshed of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well for you.

Laws of Landmark and Testimony

14 (J)You shall not displace your neighbor’s boundary marker, which the ancestors have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to [q]possess.

15 (K)A single witness shall not rise up against a person regarding any wrongdoing or any sin [r]that he commits; on the [s]testimony of two or three witnesses a matter shall be confirmed. 16 (L)If a malicious witness rises up against a person to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both people who have the dispute shall stand (M)before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who will be in office in those days. 18 And the judges (N)shall investigate thoroughly, and if the witness is a false witness and he has testified against his brother falsely, 19 then (O)you shall do to him just as he had planned to do to his brother. So you shall eliminate the evil from among you. 20 And (P)the rest of the people will hear and be afraid, and will never again do such an evil thing among you. 21 So [t](Q)you shall not show pity: (R)life for life, (S)eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, and foot for foot.

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 19:2 Lit possess it
  2. Deuteronomy 19:3 Lit road
  3. Deuteronomy 19:3 Lit and it shall be for everyone who committed manslaughter to flee there
  4. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit strikes
  5. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit without knowledge
  6. Deuteronomy 19:4 Lit and he was not hating him previously
  7. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit is put to the
  8. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit wood
  9. Deuteronomy 19:5 Lit finds
  10. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit the one who committed manslaughter
  11. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit while his heart is hot
  12. Deuteronomy 19:6 Lit strike him in the soul
  13. Deuteronomy 19:8 Lit spoke
  14. Deuteronomy 19:9 Lit keep all...to do it
  15. Deuteronomy 19:11 Lit him in the soul
  16. Deuteronomy 19:13 Lit Your eye
  17. Deuteronomy 19:14 Lit possess it
  18. Deuteronomy 19:15 Lit in any sin, that he sins
  19. Deuteronomy 19:15 Lit mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three
  20. Deuteronomy 19:21 Lit your eye

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