¹¹ Then she said, “Please, may the king keep the Lord your God in mind, so that the avenger of blood may kill no more and my son not be destroyed.” He said, “As the Lord lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the ground.”^(A)

⁴⁵ Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great victory in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God today.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, and he did not die.^(A)

³⁰ And even the hairs of your head are all counted.^(A)

¹⁹ The avenger of blood is the one who shall put the murderer to death; when they meet, the avenger of blood shall execute the sentence.^(A)

³⁴ Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive, for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”^(A)

⁵² So Solomon responded, “If he proves to be a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the ground, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.”^(A)

⁴ “Now this is the case of a homicide who might flee there and live, that is, someone who has killed another person unintentionally when the two had not been at enmity before.^{(A) 5} Suppose someone goes into the forest with another to cut wood, and when one of them swings the ax to cut down a tree, the head slips from the handle and strikes the other person, who then dies; the killer may flee to one of these cities and live. ⁶ But if the distance is too great, the avenger of blood in hot anger might pursue and overtake and put the killer to death, although a death sentence was not deserved, since the two had not been at enmity before.^{(B) 7} Therefore I command you: You shall set apart three cities.

⁸ “If the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he swore to your ancestors—and he will give you all the land that he promised your ancestors to give you, ⁹ provided you diligently observe this entire commandment that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God and walking always in his ways—then you shall add three more cities to these three,^{(C) 10} so that the blood of an innocent person may not be shed in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, thereby bringing bloodguilt upon you.^(D)

²¹ or in enmity strikes another with the hand, and death ensues, then the one who struck the blow shall be put to death; that person is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when they meet.

¹⁰ But Saul swore to her by the Lord, “As the Lord lives, no punishment shall come upon you for this thing.”