CHAPTER 35
“Command
the Israelites
to give,
from the inheritance
they will possess,
cities
for the Levites
to live in
and pasturelands
around
the cities.
The cities
will be
for them to live in,
and the pasturelands
will be
for their herds,
flocks,
and all
their other livestock.
The pasturelands
around the cities
you are to give
the Levites
will extend
a thousand
cubits
from the wall
on every side.
You are also to measure
two thousand
cubits
outside
the city
on the east,
two thousand
cubits
on the south,
two thousand
cubits
and on the west,
and two thousand
cubits
on the north,
with the city
in the center.
These areas
will serve
as larger pasturelands
for the cities.
Six
of the cities
you give
the Levites
are to be appointed
as cities
of refuge,
to which a manslayer
may flee.
In addition to these,
give the Levites
forty-two
other cities.
The total
number of cities
you give
the Levites
will be forty-eight,
with their corresponding
pasturelands.
The cities
that
you apportion
from the territory
of the Israelites
should be given
to the Levites
in proportion to
the inheritance
of each tribe:
more from
a larger tribe
and less from
a smaller one.
designate
cities
to serve as
your
cities
of refuge,
so that a person
who kills
someone
unintentionally
may flee
there.
You are to have
these cities
as a refuge
from the avenger,
so that the manslayer
will not
die
until
he stands
trial
before
the assembly.
These
six
cities
will serve
as a refuge
for the Israelites
and for the foreigner
or sojourner
among them,
so that anyone
who kills
a person
unintentionally
may flee
there.
If, however,
anyone strikes
a person with an iron
object
and kills him,
he
is a murderer;
the murderer
must surely be put to death.
Or if
anyone has in his hand
a stone
of deadly size,
and he strikes
and kills another,
he is a murderer;
the murderer
must surely be put to death.
If
anyone has in his hand
a deadly
object
of wood,
and he strikes
and kills another,
he is a murderer;
the murderer
must surely be put to death.
Likewise, if
anyone maliciously
pushes another
or
intentionally
throws an object
at him
and kills him,
or
if in hostility
he strikes
him with his hand
and he dies,
the one who struck him
must surely be put to death;
he
is a murderer.
When the avenger
of blood
finds
the murderer,
he is to kill
him.
But if anyone
pushes a person
suddenly,
without
hostility,
or
unintentionally
hits him
with an
object,
or
without
looking
drops
a heavy stone
that kills him,
but he
was not
an enemy
and did not
intend
to harm him,
then the congregation
must judge
between
the slayer
and the avenger
of blood
according to
these
ordinances.
The assembly
is to protect
the manslayer
from the hand
of the avenger
of blood.
Then the assembly
will return
him to
the city
of refuge
to which he fled,
and he must live
there until
the death
of the high
priest,
who
was anointed
with the holy
oil.
and the avenger
of blood
finds
him
outside
of his city
of refuge
and kills him,
the avenger
will not
be guilty of bloodshed,
because
the manslayer must remain
in his city
of refuge
until
the death
of the high
priest.
Only after
the death
of the high
priest
may he
return
to
the land
he owns.
If anyone
kills
a person,
the murderer
is to be put to death
on the testimony
of multiple witnesses.
But no
one
is to be put to death
based on the testimony
of a lone
witness.
You are not
to accept
a ransom
for the life
of a murderer
who
deserves
to die;
he must surely be put to death.
Nor
should you accept
a ransom
for the person who flees
to
a city
of refuge
and allow him to return
and live
on his own land
before
the death
of the high priest.
Do not
pollute
the land
where
you
live,
for
bloodshed
pollutes
the land,
and no
atonement can be made
for the land
on which the blood
is shed,
except
by the blood
of the one who shed it.
Do not
defile
the land
where
you
live
and where
I
dwell.
For
I,
the LORD,
dwell
among
the Israelites.”