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Cities for the Levites

35 Yahweh spoke to Moses on the desert plains of Moab beyond the Jordan across Jericho, saying, “Command the Israelites[a] that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their property cities to live in; and you will give to the Levites pastureland all around the cities.[b] The cities will be theirs to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their domestic animals, for their possessions, and their animals.[c]

“The pasturelands of the cities that you will give to the Levites will extend from the wall of the city to a distance of a thousand cubits all around. You will measure outside the city the eastern edge two thousand cubits, for the southern edge two thousand cubits, for the western edge two thousand cubits, and for the northern edge two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle; this will be for them the pasturelands of the cities.

“All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities. All the cities that you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities, them with their pasturelands. And the cities that you will give from the property of the Israelites,[d] you will take more from the larger group and less from the smaller group; each of them will give according to the portion of their inheritance according to the portion that he inherits.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 35:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Numbers 35:2 Hebrew “them”
  3. Numbers 35:3 Hebrew “animal”
  4. Numbers 35:8 Literally “sons/children of Israel”

Cities for the Levites

35 (A)Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their equipment and for all their other animals.

“The pasture lands of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city [a]outward a thousand cubits around. You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

Cities of Refuge

The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the (B)six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. The total number of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall be (C)forty-eight cities, [b]together with their pasture lands. (D)As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 35:4 Lit and outward
  2. Numbers 35:7 Lit them together with