Numbers 35
Common English Bible
Cities and pastures of the Levites
35 The Lord spoke to Moses in the Moab plains by the Jordan across from Jericho: 2 Command the Israelites that they give cities from their inherited property to the Levites in which to live. You will also give the Levites pastures around their cities. 3 The cities will be theirs in which to live. Their pastures will be for their cattle, their possessions, and all their animals. 4 The pastures of the cities that you must give to the Levites will extend from the wall of the city outward for one thousand five hundred feet in all directions. 5 You will measure outside the city on the east side three thousand feet, on the south side three thousand feet, on the west side three thousand feet, and on the north side three thousand feet, with the city in the middle. These will be their cities’ pastures.
6 Six of the cities that you give to the Levites will be refuge cities. You will allow the person who kills someone to flee there. In addition to these you will give them forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites will total forty-eight, along with their pastures. 8 As for the cities that you give from the property of the Israelites, you will take more from the larger tribes and less from the smaller. Each in proportion to its inheritance will give cities to the Levites.
Refuge cities
9 The Lord spoke to Moses: 10 Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 identify for yourselves cities to be refuge cities, where a person who kills someone by accident may flee. 12 The cities will be for you a place of refuge from the close relative of the dead. The person who killed someone may not be put to death until he stands before the community for judgment. 13 You will establish six refuge cities for yourselves. 14 You will establish three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be the refuge cities. 15 These six cities will be refuge for Israelites, immigrants, and temporary residents, as a place to flee for anyone who kills a person by accident.
16 But if someone strikes a person with an iron object and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must definitely be put to death. 17 If someone strikes another with a stone in hand that could cause death and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must definitely be put to death. 18 Or if someone strikes with a wood object in hand that could cause death, he is a murderer. The murderer must definitely be put to death. 19 The close relative responsible for the blood[a] of the dead is the one who will put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he will execute him. 20 If in hatred someone hits another or throws something at him with premeditation, he will be put to death. 21 Or if in hostility someone strikes another with his hand and he dies, the one who struck is a murderer and he will be put to death. The close relative will put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 But if suddenly and without hostility someone hits another or throws any object at him without premeditation, 23 or accidentally drops any stone on him that could cause death and he dies—even though they weren’t enemies and no evil was intended— 24 then the community must come to a verdict between the killer and the close relative in accordance with these case laws. 25 The community will protect the killer from the hand of the close relative and return him to the refuge city where he fled. He will live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. 26 But if the killer ever goes outside the boundaries of the refuge city where he fled 27 and the close relative finds him outside the boundary of his refuge city and kills him, he will not be responsible for his blood. 28 The killer must live in his refuge city until the high priest’s death. After the high priest’s death the killer may return to the land he owns.
29 These will be the regulations and case laws for all time in all your settlements.
30 Anyone who kills another will be executed on the evidence of witnesses. But one witness alone cannot testify against a person for a death sentence. 31 You may not accept a ransom for the life of a killer, who is guilty of a capital crime, for he must definitely be put to death. 32 You may not accept a ransom for someone who has fled to his refuge city so that he can return and live in the land before the priest’s death. 33 You may not pollute the land in which you live, for the blood pollutes the land. There can be no recovery[b] for the land from the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 You will not make the land in which you live unclean, the land in the middle of which I reside, for I the Lord reside among the Israelites.
Footnotes
- Numbers 35:19 Or (here and throughout Num 35) the close relative of the blood
- Numbers 35:33 Or reconciliation
Numbers 35
Easy-to-Read Version
The Levites’ Towns
35 The Lord spoke to Moses. This was in the Jordan Valley in Moab, near the Jordan River, across from Jericho. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites that they should give some of the cities in their part of the land to the Levites. The Israelites should give these cities and the pastures around them to the Levites. 3 The Levites will be able to live in them. And all the cattle and other animals that belong to the Levites will be able to eat from the pastures around these cities. 4 How much of your land should you give to the Levites? From the walls of the cities, go out 1500 feet[a]—all of that land will belong to the Levites. 5 Measure off an area around the city for the Levites. Start at the northeast corner and measure 3000 feet[b] to the south. Then from this corner, measure 3000 feet to the west. From there measure 3000 feet to the north and from that corner, 3000 feet to the east. The city will be in the center of this area. 6 Six of those cities will be cities of safety. If a person accidentally kills someone, that person can run to those towns for safety. In addition to those six cities, you will also give 42 more cities to the Levites. 7 So you will give a total of 48 cities to the Levites. You will also give them the land around those cities. 8 The large tribes of Israel will get large pieces of land. The small tribes of Israel will get small pieces of land. So the large tribes will give more cities and the small tribes will give fewer cities to the Levites.”
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Tell the people this: You will cross the Jordan River and go into the land of Canaan. 11 You must choose towns to be cities of safety. If someone accidentally kills another person, that person can run to one of those towns for safety. 12 That person will be safe from anyone from the dead man’s family who wants to punish the killer until that person is judged in court. 13 There will be six cities of safety. 14 Three of them will be east of the Jordan River and three of them will be in the land of Canaan, west of the Jordan River. 15 These cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel and for foreigners and travelers. Any of these people will be able to run to one of these cities if they accidentally kill someone.
16 “If you use an iron weapon[c] to kill someone, you are a murderer, and you must die. 17 If you use a rock large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die. 18 If you use a piece of wood large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die. 19 A member of the dead person’s family[d] can chase you and kill you.
20-21 “You might hit someone with your hand or push someone or throw something at them and kill them. If you did that from hate, you are a murderer, and you must be killed. A member of the dead person’s family can chase you and kill you.
22 “You might accidentally kill someone, maybe by pushing or by accidentally hitting them with a tool or weapon. 23 Perhaps you threw a rock that was large enough to kill, but it hit someone you didn’t see and killed them. You didn’t plan to kill anyone. You didn’t hate the person you killed—it was only an accident. 24 If that happens, the community must decide what to do. The court must decide if a member of the dead person’s family can kill you. 25 If the community decides to protect you from the dead person’s family, the community must take you back to your city of safety. You must stay there until the official high priest[e] dies.
26-27 “You must never go outside the limits of your city of safety. If you do and if a member of the dead person’s family catches you and kills you, that family member will not be guilty of murder. 28 Whoever accidentally killed someone must stay in their city of safety until the high priest dies. After the high priest dies, that person can go back to their own land. 29 These rules will be the law forever in all the towns of your people.
30 “A killer should be put to death as a murderer only if there are witnesses. No one can be put to death if there is only one witness.
31 “A murderer must be put to death. Don’t take money to change the punishment. That murderer must be killed.
32 “If a person killed someone and then ran to one of the cities of safety, don’t take money to let that person go home. That person must stay in that city until the high priest dies.
33 “Don’t let your land be polluted with innocent blood. If a person murders someone, the only payment for that crime is that the murderer must be killed! There is no other payment that will free the land from that crime. 34 I am the Lord. I will be living in your country with the Israelites, so don’t make it unclean with the blood of innocent people.”
Footnotes
- Numbers 35:4 1500 feet Literally, “1000 cubits” (444 m). The people probably let their sheep and cattle use this land.
- Numbers 35:5 3000 feet Literally, “2000 cubits” (1037 m). The Levites probably used this land for gardens and vineyards.
- Numbers 35:16 iron weapon This shows that the murderer chose a weapon he knew could kill the other person.
- Numbers 35:19 member of the dead person’s family Literally, “the blood avenger.” Also in verses 20-21, 24, 26-27.
- Numbers 35:25 official high priest Literally, “the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International