Numbers 35
New Living Translation
Towns for the Levites
35 While Israel was camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab across from Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands. 3 These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock. 4 The pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet[a] from the town walls in every direction. 5 Measure off 3,000 feet[b] outside the town walls in every direction—east, south, west, north—with the town at the center. This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the towns.
6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 7 In all, forty-eight towns with the surrounding pastureland will be given to the Levites. 8 These towns will come from the property of the people of Israel. The larger tribes will give more towns to the Levites, while the smaller tribes will give fewer. Each tribe will give property in proportion to the size of its land.”
Cities of Refuge
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.
“When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally. 12 These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by the community. 13 Designate six cities of refuge for yourselves, 14 three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west in the land of Canaan. 15 These cities are for the protection of Israelites, foreigners living among you, and traveling merchants. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may flee there for safety.
16 “But if someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the murderer must be executed. 17 Or if someone with a stone in his hand strikes and kills another person, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death. 18 Or if someone strikes and kills another person with a wooden object, it is murder, and the murderer must be put to death. 19 The victim’s nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the avenger must put the murderer to death. 20 So if someone hates another person and waits in ambush, then pushes him or throws something at him and he dies, it is murder. 21 Or if someone hates another person and hits him with a fist and he dies, it is murder. In such cases, the avenger must put the murderer to death when they meet.
22 “But suppose someone pushes another person without having shown previous hostility, or throws something that unintentionally hits another person, 23 or accidentally drops a huge stone on someone, though they were not enemies, and the person dies. 24 If this should happen, the community must follow these regulations in making a judgment between the slayer and the avenger, the victim’s nearest relative: 25 The community must protect the slayer from the avenger and must escort the slayer back to live in the city of refuge to which he fled. There he must remain until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the sacred oil.
26 “But if the slayer ever leaves the limits of the city of refuge, 27 and the avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered murder. 28 The slayer should have stayed inside 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 own property. 29 These are legal requirements for you to observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live.
30 “All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 31 Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death. 32 And never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property before the death of the high priest. 33 This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder.[c] 34 You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”
Numbers 35
Modern English Version
The Levites’ Cities(A)
35 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying: 2 Command the children of Israel, and they will give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in, and you will give the Levites pasturelands around the city. 3 The cities will be for them to dwell in, and their pasturelands will be for their livestock, and for their property, and for all their animals.
4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you will give to the Levites, will reach from the wall of the city and beyond one thousand cubits[a] all around. 5 You will measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits,[b] and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and the city will be in the middle. This will be for them the pasturelands of the cities.
Cities of Refuge
6 Among the cities which you will give to the Levites there will be six cities of refuge, which you will appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee there, and to them you will add forty-two cities. 7 So all the cities which you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities. You will give them with their pasturelands. 8 The cities which you shall give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel. From the larger tribes you shall give many, and from the smaller tribes you shall give few. Each tribe, in proportion to the inheritance that it receives, shall give of its cities to the Levites.
9 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 10 Speak to the children of Israel and say to them: When you are crossing over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall designate cities as your cities of refuge, so that a manslayer who unintentionally kills a person may flee there. 12 The cities will be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer does not die until he stands trial before the assembly. 13 The cities which you designate shall be your six cities of refuge. 14 You will give three cities across the Jordan, and three cities you will give in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. 15 For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the foreign sojourner among them will be six cities. These will be for a refuge. Everyone that unintentionally kills any person may flee there.
16 If he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 If he strikes him with a stone in hand, by which he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a weapon of wood in hand, by which he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself will slay the murderer. When he meets him, he will slay him. 20 But if he pushed him out of hatred, or threw something at him, lying in wait, so he dies, 21 or in hatred struck him with his hand, so he died, he that struck him shall surely be put to death, because he is a murderer. The avenger of blood will slay the murderer when he meets him.
22 But if he pushed him suddenly without hatred, or threw anything at him without lying in wait, 23 or used a stone that may cause death, unintentionally throwing it at him, resulting in death, though they were not enemies, and was not trying to harm him, 24 then the assembly will judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. 25 And the assembly will deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly will restore him to the city of his refuge where he fled, and he will dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the manslayer will go out at any time beyond the border of the city of his refuge where he fled, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood, 28 because the manslayer should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
29 So these things will be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30 Whoever kills a person, the murderer will be put to death by the testimony of witnesses, but one witness will not testify against a person for death.
31 And you will not take a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he will surely be put to death.
32 You will not take a ransom for him who fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come out again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
33 So you will not defile the land which you are in, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him that shed it. 34 So do not defile the land which you are dwelling in, where I am residing, because I the Lord am residing among the children of Israel.
Footnotes
- Numbers 35:4 About 1,500 feet, or 450 meters.
- Numbers 35:5 About 3,000 feet, or 900 meters.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.