Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: ² “Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.^{(A) 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 500 yards^[a] on every side. ⁵ Measure 1,000 yards^[b] outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards^[c] for the south side, 1,000 yards^[d] for the west side, and 1,000 yards^[e] 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,^(B) which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities.^{(C) 7} The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands. 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. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”