Cities for the Levites
1 The Lord spoke to Moses in See ch. 22:1the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 Josh. 14:3,4;21:2;See Ezek. 45:1-5;48:8-14"Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits35:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters all around. 5 And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.
6 "The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ver. 13;Deut. 4:41,42;Josh. 20:2,7,8;21:3,13,21,27,32,36,38the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be Josh. 21:41forty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give Josh. 21:3from the possession of the people of Israel, ch. 26:54;33:54from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."
Cities of Refuge
9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 "Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, For ver. 10-12,see Deut. 19:2-4;Josh. 20:2-6When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 Ex. 21:13then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your See ver. 6six cities of refuge. 14 Deut. 4:41;Josh. 20:8You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ch. 15:16for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.
16 Ex. 21:12,14;Lev. 24:17;Deut. 19:11,12"But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 Deut. 19:6,12;Josh. 20:3,5The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, Ex. 21:14;Deut. 19:11lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. [See ver. 19above]The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 "But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him Ex. 21:13without lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then ver. 12;Josh. 20:6the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and [See ver. 19above]the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it Josh. 20:6until the death of the high priest Ex. 29:7;Lev. 4:3;21:10who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and [See ver. 19above]the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28 For he must remain in his city of refuge [See ver. 25above]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 And these things shall be for ch. 27:11a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.
30 "If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the Deut. 17:6;19:15;Heb. 10:28;[Matt. 18:16;John 8:17;2 Cor. 13:1;1 Tim. 5:19]evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not Ps. 106:38;Jer. 3:1,2,9;[Mic. 4:11] pollute the land in which you live, for blood Ps. 106:38;Jer. 3:1,2,9;[Mic. 4:11] pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except See Gen. 9:6by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 Lev. 18:25;Deut. 21:23You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, See Ex. 29:45for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel."