¹⁰ “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

“When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

² “Now tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed Moses. ³ Anyone who kills another person accidentally and unintentionally can run to one of these cities; they will be places of refuge from relatives seeking revenge for the person who was killed.

⁴ “Upon reaching one of these cities, the one who caused the death will appear before the elders at the city gate and present his case. They must allow him to enter the city and give him a place to live among them. ⁵ If the relatives of the victim come to avenge the killing, the leaders must not release the slayer to them, for he killed the other person unintentionally and without previous hostility. ⁶ But the slayer must stay in that city and be tried by the local assembly, which will render a judgment. And he must continue to live in that city until the death of the high priest who was in office at the time of the accident. After that, he is free to return to his own home in the town from which he fled.”

Cities of Refuge

19 “When the Lord your God destroys the nations whose land he is giving you, you will take over their land and settle in their towns and homes. ² Then you must set apart three cities of refuge in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

⁹ because you have not yet arrived at the place of rest, the land the Lord your God is giving you as your special possession.

² “Give these instructions to the Israelites: When you come into the land of Canaan, which I am giving you as your special possession, these will be the boundaries.

² “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. When you have entered the land I am giving you, the land itself must observe a Sabbath rest before the Lord every seventh year.

³⁴ “When you arrive in Canaan, the land I am giving you as your own possession, I may contaminate some of the houses in your land with mildew.^[a]