¹³ If it was not premeditated but came about by an act of God, then I will appoint for you a place to which the killer may flee.^(A)

² “Say to the Israelites: Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,^{(A) 3} so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ The slayer shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city and given a place and shall remain with them.^{(B) 5} And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between them before.^{(C) 6} The slayer shall remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation, until the death of the one who is high priest at the time; then the slayer may return home, to the town in which the deed was done.”^(D)

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.^{(E) 8} And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.^{(F) 9} These were the cities designated for all the Israelites and for the aliens residing among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so as not to die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until there was a trial before the congregation.^(G)

¹⁸ Today you have explained how you have dealt well with me, in that you did not kill me when the Lord put me into your hands.^(A)

¹⁰ This very day your eyes have seen how the Lord gave you into my hand in the cave, and some urged me to kill you, but I spared^[a] you. I said, ‘I will not raise my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’

⁴ The men of David said to him, “Here is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’ ” Then David went and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s cloak.^(A)

Laws concerning the Cities of Refuge

19 “When the Lord your God has cut off the nations whose land the Lord your God is giving you and you have dispossessed them and settled in their towns and in their houses,^{(A) 2} you shall set apart three cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.^{(B) 3} You shall calculate the distances^[a] and divide into three regions the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any homicide can flee to one of them.

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.^{(C) 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.^{(D) 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,^{(E) 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.^(F)

¹¹ “But if someone at enmity with another lies in wait and attacks and takes the life of that person and flees into one of these cities, ¹² then the elders of the killer’s city shall send to have the culprit taken from there and handed over to the avenger of blood to be put to death. ¹³ Show no pity; you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, so that it may go well with you.^(G)

Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

⁴¹ Then Moses set apart on the east side of the Jordan three cities^{(A) 42} to which a homicide could flee, someone who unintentionally kills another person, the two not having been at enmity before; the homicide could flee to one of these cities and live: ⁴³ Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland belonging to the Reubenites, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the Manassites.

¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites 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, so that a slayer who kills a person without intent may flee there.^{(A) 12} The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the slayer may not die until there is a trial before the congregation.^(B)

¹³ “The cities that you designate shall be six cities of refuge for you: ¹⁴ you shall designate three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall serve as refuge for the Israelites, for the resident or transient alien among them, so that anyone who kills a person without intent may flee there.^(C)

Concerning Murder and Blood Revenge

¹⁶ “But anyone who strikes another with an iron object, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.^{(D) 17} Or anyone who strikes another with a stone in hand that could cause death, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁸ Or anyone who strikes another with a weapon of wood in hand that could cause death, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. 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.^{(E) 20} Likewise, if someone pushes another from hatred or hurls something at another, lying in wait, and death ensues, 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.

²² “But if someone pushes another suddenly without enmity or hurls any object without lying in wait,^{(F) 23} or, while handling any stone that could cause death, unintentionally^[a] drops it on another and death ensues, though they were not enemies and no harm was intended, ²⁴ then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances,^{(G) 25} and the congregation shall rescue the slayer from the avenger of blood. Then the congregation shall send the slayer back to the original city of refuge. The slayer shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the slayer shall at any time go outside the bounds of the original city of refuge ²⁷ and is found by the avenger of blood outside the bounds of the city of refuge and is killed by the avenger, no bloodguilt shall be incurred. ²⁸ For the slayer must remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the slayer may return to his property.

²⁹ “These things shall be a statute and ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live.

³⁰ “If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness.^{(H) 31} Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death penalty; a murderer must be put to death. ³² Nor shall you accept ransom for one who has fled to a city of refuge, enabling the fugitive to return to live 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 expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.^{(I) 34} You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell, for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites.”^(J)