And the LORD spoke
to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from
Jericho, saying:
“Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites
cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and
you shall also give the Levites common-land around the
cities. They shall
have the cities to dwell in; and their common-land shall be for
their cattle, for their herds, and for all their animals.
The common-land of
the cities which you will give the Levites shall extend
from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.
And you shall
measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits,
on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two
thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits. The
city shall be in the middle. This shall belong to them as
common-land for the cities.
“Now among the
cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint
six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to
these you shall add forty-two cities.
So all the cities
you will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight; these
you shall give with their common-land.
And the cities
which you will give shall be from the possession of the
children of Israel; from the larger tribe you shall give
many, from the smaller you shall give few. Each shall give some
of its cities to the Levites, in proportion to the inheritance
that each receives.”
Cities of Refuge
Then the LORD spoke
to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you
cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
then you shall
appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the
manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there. They shall be
cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer
may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.
And of the cities
which you give, you shall have six cities of refuge.
You shall appoint
three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you
shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities
of refuge. These
six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for
the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who
kills a person accidentally may flee there.
‘But if he strikes
him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a
murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
And if he strikes
him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he
does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be
put to death. Or
if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one
could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the
murderer shall surely be put to death.
The avenger of
blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets
him, he shall put him to death.
If he pushes him
out of hatred or, while lying in wait, hurls something at him so
that he dies, or
in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, 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 meets him.
‘However, if he
pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him
without lying in wait,
or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at
him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not
his enemy or seeking his harm,
then the
congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger
of blood according to these judgments.
So the
congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the
avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the
city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there
until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the
holy oil. But if
the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of
refuge where he fled,
and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his
city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he
shall not be guilty of blood,
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 may
return to the land of his possession.
‘And these
things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your
generations in all your dwellings.
Whoever kills a
person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of
witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony
against a person for the death penalty.
Moreover you shall
take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty
of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
And you shall take
no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he
may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.
So you shall not
pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the
land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood
that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Therefore do not
defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I
dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.’”
