Numbers 35
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
35 And the Lord spoke these things also to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, over against Jericho:
2 Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of their possessions,
3 Cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about: that they may abide in the towns, and the suburbs may be for their cattle and beasts:
4 Which suburbs shall reach from the walls of the cities outward, a thousand paces on every side:
5 Toward the east shall be two thousand cubits: and toward the south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits: toward the sea also, which looketh to the west, shall be the same extent: and the north side shall be bounded with the like limits. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs without.
6 And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood may flee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two cities,
7 That is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.
8 And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.
9 The Lord said to Moses:
10 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have passed over the Jordan into the land of Chanaan,
11 Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who have shed blood against their will.
12 And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the multitude, and his cause be judged.
13 And of those cities, that are separated for the refuge of fugitives,
14 Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three in the land of Chanaan,
15 As well for the children of Israel as for strangers and sojourners, that he may flee to them, who hath shed blood against his will.
16 If any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck: he shall be guilty of murder, and he himself shall die.
17 If he throw a stone, and he that is struck die: he shall be punished in the same manner.
18 If he that is struck with wood die: he shall be revenged by the blood of him that struck him.
19 The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.
20 If through hatred any one push a man, or fling any thing at him with ill design:
21 Or being his enemy, strike; him with his hand, and he die: the striker shall be guilty of murder: the kinsman of him that was slain as soon as he findeth him, shall kill him.
22 But if by chance medley, and without hatred,
23 And enmity, he do any of these things,
24 And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:
25 The innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the revenger, and shall be brought back by sentence into the city, to which he had fled, and he shall abide there until the death of the high priest, that is anointed with the holy oil.
26 If the murderer be found without the limits of the cities that are appointed for the banished,
27 And be struck by him that is the avenger of blood: he shall not be guilty that killed him.
28 For the fugitive ought to have stayed in the city until the death of the high priest: and after he is dead, then shall the manslayer return to his own country.
29 These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance in all your dwellings.
30 The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be condemned upon the evidence of one man.
31 You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he shall die forthwith.
32 The banished and fugitives before the death of the high priest may by no means return into their own cities.
33 Defile not the land of your habitation, which is stained with the blood of the innocent: neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by his blood that hath shed the blood of another.
34 And thus shall your possession he cleansed, myself abiding with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.
Numbers 35
Christian Standard Bible
Cities for the Levites
35 The Lord again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:(A) 2 “Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.(B) 3 The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals. 4 The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall five hundred yards[a] on every side. 5 Measure a thousand yards[b] outside the city for the east side, a thousand yards for the south side, a thousand yards for the west side, and a thousand yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.
6 “The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge,(C) which you will provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give forty-two other cities.(D) 7 The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, along with their pasturelands.(E) 8 Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.(F) Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”
Cities of Refuge
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.(G) 12 You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger,(H) so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. 13 The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. 14 Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge.(I) 15 These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the alien or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
16 “If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death.(J) 17 If anyone has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. 18 If anyone has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him.(K) 20 Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies, 21 or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him.
22 “But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent 23 or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and didn’t intend to harm him, 24 the assembly is to judge between the person who kills someone and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25 The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.(L)
26 “If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to, 27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, 28 for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses. 29 These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live.
30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness.(M) 31 You are not to accept a ransom for the life of someone who is guilty of murder; he must be put to death. 32 Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest.
33 “Do not defile the land where you live, for bloodshed defiles the land,(N) and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I dwell; for I, the Lord, reside among the Israelites.”
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.