4.Mose 35 | New International Reader’s Version

The Levites receive their towns

1 On the plains of Moab, the LORD spoke to Moses. It was by the River Jordan opposite Jericho. The LORD said, 2 ‘Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in. The towns must come from the shares of land the people will have as their own. Also give the Levites the grasslands around the towns. 3 Then the Levites will have towns to live in. They will also have grasslands for their cattle and all their other livestock. 4 ‘The grasslands around each town you give them will go out to 500 metres from the town wall. 5 Outside each town, the east side will measure 1,000 metres. So will the south side, the west side and the north side. The town must be in the centre. And the Levites will own the grasslands around each town.

Cities to run to for safety

6 ‘Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities to go to for safety. A person who has killed someone can run to one of them. Also give the Levites 42 other towns. 7 You must give the Levites a total of 48 towns. Also give them the grasslands around those towns. 8 The towns you give the Levites must come from the land the Israelites have as their own. So the number you give from each tribe will depend on the size of that tribe’s share. Take many towns from a tribe that has many towns. But take only a few towns from a tribe that has only a few.’ 9 Then the LORD said to Moses, 10 ‘Speak to the Israelites. Tell them, “You will soon go across the River Jordan. You will enter Canaan. 11 When you do, choose the cities to go to for safety. People who have killed someone by accident can run to one of those cities. 12 They will be places of safety for them. People will be safe there from those who want to kill them. Then anyone charged with murder will not die before their case has been brought to the community court. 13 Six towns will be the cities you can go to for safety. 14 Three will be east of the River Jordan. The other three will be in Canaan. 15 Those six towns will be places where the Israelites can go for safety. Outsiders living in Israel can also go to them for safety. So anyone who has killed another person by accident can run there. 16 ‘ “Suppose a person uses an iron object to hit and kill someone. Then that person is a murderer and must be put to death. 17 Or suppose a person is holding a stone that could kill. And they use it to hit and kill someone. Then that person is a murderer and must be put to death. 18 Or suppose a person is holding a wooden object that could kill. And they use it to hit and kill someone. Then that person is a murderer and must be put to death. 19 The dead person’s nearest male relative must kill the murderer. When he meets up with him, he must kill the murderer. 20 What if a person makes evil plans against someone else? And what if that person pushes them so that they die? Or what if that person throws something at them so that they die? 21 Or what if that person hits another person with a fist so that the other dies? Then the person who does any of those things must be put to death. That person is a murderer. The dead person’s nearest male relative must kill the murderer. When he meets up with him, he must kill the murderer. 22 ‘ “But what if a person suddenly pushes someone else without being angry? Or what if that person throws something at someone else without meaning to? 23 Or what if that person does not see the other person and drops a stone on them that kills them? He was not the dead person’s enemy. He did not mean to harm them. 24 Then the court must decide between the person who did the act and the nearest male relative of the one who was killed. Here are the rules the court must follow. 25 The court must provide a safe place for the person accused of murder. It must keep the one accused of murder safe from those who want to kill them. The court must send the accused person back to the city they ran to for safety. The accused person must stay there until the high priest dies. That priest has been anointed with holy oil. 26 ‘ “But suppose the accused person goes outside that city. 27 And suppose the dead person’s nearest male relative finds them outside the city. Then the relative can kill the accused person. The relative will not be guilty of murder. 28 The accused person must stay in that city until the high priest dies. Only then may they return home. 29 ‘ “This is what the law requires of you for all time to come. It will apply to you no matter where you live. 30 ‘ “Suppose a person kills someone. Then that person must be put to death as a murderer. But do it only when there are witnesses who can tell what happened. Do not put anyone to death if only one witness tells what happened. 31 ‘ “Do not accept payment for a murderer’s life. A murderer deserves to die. They must certainly be put to death. 32 ‘ “Do not accept payment for anyone who has run to a city for safety. Do not let them buy their freedom to return home. They must not go back and live on their own land before the high priest dies. 33 ‘ “Do not pollute the land where you are. Murder pollutes the land. Only one thing can pay to remove the pollution in the land where murder has been committed. The blood of the one who spilled another’s blood must be spilled. 34 So do not make the land where you live ‘unclean’, because I live there too. I, the LORD, live among the Israelites.” ’

English Standard Version

Cities for the Levites

1 The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 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. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits* all around. 5 And 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. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And 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.”

Cities of Refuge

9 And 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, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These 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. 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. 17 And 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. 18 Or 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. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or 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. 22 “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait 23 or 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, 24 then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And 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. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and 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. 28 For 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. 29 And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. 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. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And 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. 33 You 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. 34 You 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.”

4.Mose 35 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

The Levites receive their towns

Cities to run to for safety

Cities for the Levites

Cities of Refuge