1Mens israelitterne stadig lå i lejr på Moabs sletter langs Jordanfloden over for Jeriko, sagde Herren til Moses:2„Sig til folket, at de skal overdrage nogle af deres byer med omliggende græsmarker til levitterne.3Der skal levitterne bo og deres husdyr græsse.4I skal afmåle et område rundt om byerne, som skal være levitternes græsmarker. Afmål 450 m fra bymuren udad,5og 900 m langs hver af de fire sider af byen, mod øst, mod syd, mod vest og mod nord.6-7Levitterne skal i alt tildeles 48 byer med omliggende græsmarker. Heraf skal de seks være tilflugtsbyer, hvor personer, der uforsætligt er kommet til at slå et andet menneske ihjel, kan søge asyl.8Levitbyerne skal ligge jævnt fordelt ud over hele landet, således at de store stammer skal afstå mange byer til levitterne, og de mindre stammer færre.”
Tilflugtsbyerne
9Herren sagde videre til Moses:10-11„Sig til folket: Når I kommer ind i landet, skal I udpege nogle byer til at være tilflugtsbyer. En person, som er skyldig i uagtsomt manddrab, kan flygte til sådan en by,12så vedkommende undgår at blive dræbt af blodhævnere, endnu inden der er afsagt dom i sagen.13-14Der skal ligge tre tilflugtsbyer i Kana’ans land og tre i området øst for Jordanfloden.15Både israelitterne, de fremmede iblandt jer og folk på gennemrejse skal kunne søge tilflugt i disse byer.16-18Hvis en person slår et andet menneske ihjel ved at gøre brug af våben af jern, sten eller træ, er der ikke tale om uagtsomt manddrab; det må formodes at være mord, og derfor skal den skyldige lide døden:19Den myrdedes nærmeste slægtning har ansvaret for at hævne mordet, og han skal slå morderen ihjel.20-21Det samme gælder, hvis en person af had til en anden forsætligt skubber til ham, kaster noget imod ham eller slår ham, så han dør.22-23Men hvis der er tale om et uheld, hvor en person uforvarende kommer til at skubbe til en anden eller ramme ham med en sten eller noget andet, så han dør,24skal domstolen afgøre, hvorvidt der er tale om uagtsomt manddrab eller mord, og om den skyldige skal udleveres til blodhævneren eller ej.25Hvis domstolen så har afsagt kendelse om uagtsomt manddrab, skal drabsmanden beskyttes mod blodhævneren og bringes tilbage til den tilflugtsby, han var flygtet til. Der skal han blive boende, indtil den fungerende ypperstepræst er død.26Hvis drabsmanden forlader tilflugtsbyen,27har blodhævneren ret til at slå ham ihjel uden at gøre sig skyldig i mord,28for manden burde være blevet i tilflugtsbyen indtil ypperstepræstens død. Først efter ypperstepræstens død kan han vende tilbage til sit hjem.29Denne lov skal gælde fra slægt til slægt i det land, hvor I kommer til at bo.30Enhver morder skal henrettes, medmindre der er mangel på vidneudsagn. Der skal mindst to vidneudsagn til for at dømme en person til døden.31Men hvis han dømmes skyldig i mord, skal han henrettes. Han kan ikke frigives mod, at der betales løsepenge for ham.32En flygtning, der bor i en tilflugtsby, kan heller ikke løskøbes, så han kan forlade tilflugtsbyen og vende tilbage til sit hjem før ypperstepræstens død.33-34I må ikke gøre det land, som I skal ind og bo i, urent, for jeg, Herren, bor i jeres midte. Hvis et menneske udgyder et andet menneskes blod, bliver landet urent, og der kan kun skaffes soning ved at den skyldige dør.”
1The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, (4.Mos 22,1)2“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. (Josva 14,3; Josva 21,2; Ez 45,1; Ez 48,8)3The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.4The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits[1] all around.5And you shall measure, outside 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, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.6“The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. (4.Mos 35,13; 5.Mos 4,41; Josva 20,2; Josva 20,7; Josva 21,3; Josva 21,13; Josva 21,21; Josva 21,27; Josva 21,32; Josva 21,36; Josva 21,38)7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. (Josva 21,41)8And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.” (4.Mos 26,54; 4.Mos 33,54; Josva 21,3)
Cities of Refuge
9And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, (5.Mos 19,2; Josva 20,2)11then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. (2.Mos 21,13)12The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.13And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. (4.Mos 35,6)14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. (5.Mos 4,41; Josva 20,8)15These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. (4.Mos 15,16)16“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. (2.Mos 21,12; 2.Mos 21,14; 3.Mos 24,17; 5.Mos 19,11)17And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.18Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death.19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. (5.Mos 19,6; 5.Mos 19,12; Josva 20,3; Josva 20,5)20And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, (2.Mos 21,14; 5.Mos 19,11)21or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. (4.Mos 35,19)22“But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait (2.Mos 21,13)23or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm,24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. (4.Mos 35,12; 4.Mos 35,19; Josva 20,6)25And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. (2.Mos 29,7; 3.Mos 4,3; 3.Mos 21,10; Josva 20,6)26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled,27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. (4.Mos 35,19)28For he must remain 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. (4.Mos 35,25)29And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. (4.Mos 27,11)30“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. (5.Mos 17,6; 5.Mos 19,15; Matt 18,16; Joh 8,17; 2.Kor 13,1; 1.Tim 5,19; Heb 10,28)31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death.32And you shall accept 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 high priest.33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. (1.Mos 9,6; Salm 106,38; Jer 3,1; Jer 3,9; Mika 4,11)34You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.” (2.Mos 29,45; 3.Mos 18,25; 5.Mos 21,23)