Numbers 35
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Cities for the Levites
35 The Lord again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: 2 “Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.(A) 3 The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals. 4 The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall 500 yards[a] on every side. 5 Measure 1,000 yards[b] outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards[c] for the south side, 1,000 yards[d] for the west side, and 1,000 yards[e] for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.
6 “The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge,(B) which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities.(C) 7 The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands. 8 Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”
Cities of Refuge
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.(D) 12 You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. 13 The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. 14 Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
16 “If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. 17 If a man has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. 18 If a man has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him. 20 Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies, 21 or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him.
22 “But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent 23 or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and wasn’t trying to harm him, 24 the assembly is to judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25 The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.(E)
26 “If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, 28 for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses. 29 These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live.
30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness.(F) 31 You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of killing someone; he must be put to death. 32 Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest.[f]
33 “Do not defile the land where you are,[g] for bloodshed defiles the land,(G) and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I reside; for I, Yahweh, reside among the Israelites.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 35:4 Lit 1,000 cubits
- Numbers 35:5 Lit 2,000 cubits
- Numbers 35:5 Lit 2,000 cubits
- Numbers 35:5 Lit 2,000 cubits
- Numbers 35:5 Lit 2,000 cubits
- Numbers 35:32 Sam, LXX, Syr read high priest
- Numbers 35:33 Sam, LXX, Syr, Vg, Tg read live
Numbers 35
Wycliffe Bible
35 And the Lord spake these things to Moses, in the field places of Moab, above Jordan, against Jericho, (And the Lord spoke these things to Moses, on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River, opposite Jericho,)
2 Command thou to the sons of Israel, that they give to the deacons, of their possessions, cities to dwell in, and the suburbs of those by compass, (Command thou to the Israelites, that they give to the Levites, out of their possessions, cities to live in, and the suburbs around them,)
3 that they dwell in the cities, and the suburbs be to beasts, and work beasts; (so that they can live in those cities, and that the suburbs can be for their beasts, and their work beasts;)
4 which suburbs shall be stretched forth from the walls of the cities withoutforth by compass, in the space of a thousand paces;
5 against the east coast shall be two thousand cubits, and against the south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits, and at the sea that beholdeth to the west shall be the same measure, and the north coast shall be ended by even term. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs withoutforth. (that is, the eastern border shall be two thousand cubits out from the city, and the southern border shall also be two thousand cubits out, and the western border shall be the same measure out, as shall be the northern border. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs shall be all around them.)
6 Forsooth of those cities which ye shall give to [the] deacons, six shall be separated into [the] helps of fugitives, either of fleeing men, that he that shedded blood, flee to those; (And of the cities which ye shall give to the Levites, six shall be set apart for fugitives, or for those who flee, so that anyone who sheddeth out blood, can flee to them;)
7 and besides these six cities, ye shall give to the deacons (ye shall give to the Levites), (an)other two and forty cities, that is, altogether eight and forty, with their suburbs.
8 And (of) those cities that shall be given (out) of the possession of the sons of Israel, more cities shall be taken away from them that have more, and fewer from them that have less; all the sons of Israel by themselves shall give by the measure of their heritage, cities to the deacons (each tribe of the Israelites shall give cities to the Levites, according to the size of their inheritance).
9 (And) The Lord said to Moses,
10 Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and thou shalt say to them, When ye have passed [over] Jordan (When we have crossed over the Jordan River), in[to] the land of Canaan,
11 deem ye which cities ought to be into the helps of fugitives which not willfully have shed blood. (decide ye which cities ought to be for the help of those who flee, who have not intentionally shed blood.)
12 In which cities when the fleer hath fled, the kinsman of him that is slain, shall not be able to slay him, till he stand in the sight of the multitude, and the cause of him be deemed. (In which cities to where a fleer hath fled, the next-of-kin of him who is killed, shall not be able to kill the one who fleeth, until he standeth before the multitude, and his case is tried.)
13 Forsooth of those cities that be separated to the helps of fugitives, (And of those cities that shall be set apart for the help of fleeing men,)
14 three shall be beyond (the) Jordan, (that is, on the eastern side of the river,) and three in the land of Canaan;
15 as well to the sons of Israel as to comelings, and pilgrims; that he flee to those cities, that shedded blood not willfully. (for the Israelites, as well as for newcomers, and foreigners, or strangers; so that anyone, who did not intentionally shed blood, can flee to one of those cities.)
16 If any man smiteth a man with (a thing of) iron, and he that is smitten is dead, the smiter shall be guilty of manslaying, and he shall die. (If anyone striketh someone with a thing of iron, and he who is struck dieth, the striker shall be guilty of manslaughter, and he must be put to death.)
17 If he casteth a stone, and a man is dead by the stroke thereof, the caster shall be punished in like manner. (If anyone throweth a stone, and someone dieth by the stroke of it, the stone-thrower must be put to death.)
18 If a man smitten with a staff dieth, he shall be venged by the blood of the smiter. (If someone struck with a staff dieth, he shall be avenged by the death of the person who struck him.)
19 The nigh kinsman of him that is slain shall slay the manslayer; anon as he taketh (hold of) the manslayer, he shall slay him. (The next-of-kin of him who is killed, shall kill the man-killer; as soon as he catcheth the man-killer, he shall kill him.)
20 If by hatred a man hurtleth, either shoveth, a man, either casteth anything into him by ambushings, (If in hatred anyone hurtleth, or pusheth, someone, or intentionally throweth something into him,)
21 either when he was enemy to him, smite him with his hand, and he is dead, the smiter shall be guilty of manslaying. The kinsman of him that is slain, anon as he findeth him, that is, the slayer, shall slay him. (or when he was an enemy to him, he striketh him with his hand, and he dieth, the striker shall be guilty of manslaughter. The next-of-kin of him who is killed, as soon as he findeth the killer, shall kill him.)
22 That if by sudden case, and without hatred and enmities, a man doeth anything of these; (But if, on the spur of the moment, or by accident, and without any hatred or enmities, someone doeth any of these things;)
23 (This verse is omitted in the original text.)
24 and this is proved, the people hearing (and this is proven before the people), and the question of the blood, or death, is discussed betwixt the smiter and the kinsman of him that is slain,
25 the innocent (man) shall be delivered from the hand of the venger (of the blood), and by sentence of judges he shall be led again into the city, to which he fled, and he shall dwell there, till the great priest die, which is anointed with [holy] oil. (the guiltless person, that is, he who killed unintentionally, shall be rescued from the hand of the avenger of the blood, and by the sentence of the judges he shall be brought again to the city, to which he fled, and he shall live there until the High Priest, who is anointed with holy oil, hath died.)
26 If the slayer is found without the coasts of the cities that be assigned to exiled men, (But if the killer is found anywhere outside the cities of refuge,)
27 and he is slain of him that is venger [of the blood], he that slayeth him shall be without guilt; (and he is killed by him who is the avenger of the blood, he who killeth him shall be without guilt;)
28 for the exiled man ought (to) sit in the city till to the death of the bishop; forsooth after that that bishop is dead, the manslayer shall turn again into his land. (for the exiled person ought to remain in the city until the death of the High Priest; but after that the High Priest is dead, the man-killer can return to his own land.)
29 These shall be everlasting and lawful things in all your dwellings. (These shall be everlasting laws wherever you shall live.)
30 A manslayer shall be punished under witnesses; no man shall be condemned at the witnessing of one man. (A man-killer shall be found guilty, and put to death, only after the testimony of two or more witnesses; no one shall be put to death after the testimony of only one person.)
31 Ye shall not take price of him which is guilty of blood, or death, anon and he shall die. (Ye shall not take payment from anyone who is guilty of murder, so that he can live, but he must be put to death at once.)
32 Men exiled, and fugitives, shall not be able to turn again in any manner into their cities, before the death of the bishop, (Exiled people, and fugitives, shall not be able to return to their own cities, for any reason, before the death of the High Priest,)
33 lest ye defoul the land of your habitation, which is defouled by the (shedding of the) blood of innocent men; and it may not be cleansed in (any) other manner, no but by the blood of him, that shedded the blood of another man.
34 And so your possession shall be cleansed, for I shall dwell with you; for I am the Lord, that dwell among the sons of Israel. (And so the land, in which I live with you, shall be made clean, or purified; for I am the Lord, who liveth among the Israelites.)
Números 35
Reina Valera Contemporánea
Ciudades de los levitas
35 El Señor habló con Moisés en los campos de Moab, junto al Jordán, frente a Jericó, y le dijo:
2 «Ordena a los hijos de Israel que, de los terrenos que reciban en posesión, deben dar a los levitas ciudades donde ellos puedan vivir, y darles también los ejidos alrededor de esas ciudades. 3 Así los levitas tendrán ciudades donde vivir, y los ejidos de esas ciudades serán para sus animales y ganados, y para todas sus bestias. 4 Los ejidos de las ciudades que den a los levitas deben tener un perímetro de mil codos de la muralla de la ciudad hacia afuera. 5 Fuera de las ciudades, los ejidos a su alrededor deben medir dos mil codos por el este, dos mil codos por el sur, dos mil codos por el oeste, y dos mil codos por el norte, y la ciudad quedará en el centro. 6 Seis de las ciudades que darán a los levitas serán de refugio, para que los homicidas puedan refugiarse en ellas. Además de estas seis ciudades, les darán otras cuarenta y dos, 7 de modo que lo que darán a los levitas será un total de cuarenta y ocho ciudades con sus ejidos. 8 Estas ciudades las tomarán de lo que los hijos de Israel reciban en propiedad. Del que tenga mucho, tomarán mucho; del que tenga poco, tomarán poco. Cada uno dará a los levitas una parte de sus ciudades, según lo que haya recibido en propiedad.»(A)
Ciudades de refugio(B)
9 El Señor habló con Moisés, y le dijo:
10 «Habla con los hijos de Israel, y diles: “Cuando ustedes hayan pasado a la tierra de Canaán, al otro lado del Jordán, 11 designarán algunas ciudades como ciudades de refugio,(C) a las que pueda huir aquel homicida que, sin proponérselo, hiera de muerte a alguien. 12 Esas ciudades servirán para refugiarse del que quiera tomar venganza, pues el homicida no será condenado a muerte hasta que sea juzgado en presencia de la congregación.
13 »”De las ciudades que den a los levitas, seis serán ciudades de refugio. 14 Tres de estas ciudades de refugio estarán en la ribera este del Jordán, y las otras tres ciudades estarán en la tierra de Canaán. 15 Estas seis ciudades brindarán refugio a los hijos de Israel y a los extranjeros que habiten entre ellos. Cualquiera que, sin proponérselo, hiera de muerte a otro, podrá huir a ellas.
16 »”Si la agresión se hizo con algún instrumento de hierro, y la víctima muere, se trata de un homicidio, y el homicida será condenado a muerte.
17 »”Si la agresión se hizo con una piedra en la mano, capaz de causar la muerte, y la víctima muere, se trata de un homicidio, y el homicida será condenado a muerte.
18 »”Si la agresión se hizo con un objeto de madera, capaz de causar la muerte, y la víctima muere, se trata de un homicidio, y el homicida será condenado a muerte.
19 »”El que quiera vengar esa muerte, podrá matar al homicida, y matarlo si lo encuentra.
20 »”Si el homicida empuja a su víctima por odio, o le arroja algo porque ya lo acechaba, y la víctima muere; 21 o si por enemistad lo hiere con su propia mano, y la víctima muere, se trata de un homicidio, y el agresor será condenado a muerte. El que quiera vengar la muerte de la víctima podrá matar al homicida cuando lo encuentre.
22 »”Pero si el agresor lo empuja, o arroja contra la víctima algún objeto, sin proponérselo y sin mediar ninguna enemistad ni asechanza, 23 o sin fijarse deja caer sobre la víctima alguna piedra capaz de matarlo, y la víctima muere sin que el agresor fuera su enemigo o procurara su mal, 24 entonces la congregación juzgará entre el homicida y el que quiera vengar la muerte, en conformidad con estas leyes:
25 »”La congregación librará al homicida de las manos del vengador, y lo hará volver a la ciudad en la que se haya refugiado, y el homicida se quedará a vivir allá hasta que muera el sumo sacerdote, el cual fue ungido con el aceite santo.
26 »”Si el homicida sale más allá de los límites de la ciudad en la que se refugió, 27 y el vengador de la víctima lo halla fuera de los límites de esa ciudad de refugio, y lo mata, el vengador no será culpable de su muerte, 28 pues el homicida debe quedarse en su ciudad de refugio hasta que muera el sumo sacerdote, y volverá a la tierra de su propiedad sólo después de que haya muerto el sumo sacerdote.
Ley para los testigos y el rescate
29 »”Dondequiera que ustedes vivan, esta ley estará vigente para los juicios entre sus descendientes:
30 »”Todo el que dé muerte a alguien es un homicida, y será condenado a muerte por el testimonio de varios testigos. Un solo testigo no basta para condenar a muerte a una persona.(D)
31 »”No podrán recibir dinero a cambio de la vida de un homicida, pues está condenado a muerte, y sin falta morirá.
32 »”No podrán recibir dinero a cambio del que haya huido a una ciudad de refugio, para que vuelva a vivir en su tierra, antes de la muerte del sumo sacerdote.
33 »”No contaminen la tierra donde vivan, porque la sangre derramada hará impura la tierra, y sólo se purificará de la sangre derramada en ella con la sangre del que la derramó.
34 »”No contaminen la tierra que habitan, porque yo habito en medio de ustedes. Yo, el Señor, habito en medio de los hijos de Israel.”»
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