Numbers 35 (UDB)

1Yahweh told this to Moses while the Israelites were on the plain in Moab near the Jordan River, across from Jericho:Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

2"Tell the Israelite people that from the land that they will receive, they must give to the descendants of Levi some cities in which they can live. They must also give them some land around these cities.“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

3These cities will be for the descendants of Levi to live in, and around the cities will be land for their cattle and flocks of sheep and goats and other animals.The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.

4The land that you give them for their animals must extend out for 460 meters from the walls of the cities.The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side.

5Also measure 920 meters in each direction out from the walls of each city. That additional land will be land for their animals outside the walls of the cities.You are also to measure two thousand cubits outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.

6Six of the cities that you give to the descendants of Levi will be cities to which people can run to be safe. If someone accidentally kills someone else, the one who killed that person may run to one of those cities to be safe.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.

7You must also give to the descendants of Levi forty-two other cities and the land around those cities for their animals.The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands.

8The Israelite tribes who have the most people must give them more cities than the tribes who have fewer people give. Each tribe must give some of its cities to the descendants of Levi, but the tribes that have more land must give more cities, and the tribes that have fewer cities will give fewer cities."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.”

9Yahweh also said to Moses,Then the LORD said to Moses,

10"Tell this to the Israelite people, 'When you cross the Jordan River and enter the region of Canaan,“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11you must choose some cities to which people can run to be safe. If someone kills another person, the one who killed that person may run to one of those cities and be safe.designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

12One of the relatives of the person who was killed may think he must avenge his relative's death by killing the murderer. But in that city, the killer will be safe because the people in that city would kill those relatives if they tried to get revenge there. The man who killed someone accidentally must be put on trial in a court.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.

13You must set apart six cities to be cities to which someone who killed another person accidentally may run and be safe.The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge.

14There must be three of these cities on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west side, in the region of Canaan.Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.

15Those six cities will be cities where Israelite people may run and be safe, and where foreigners and other people who are living among you can also run and be safe. Any of those people who accidentally kills someone may run to one of these cities and be safe there.These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

16But you must consider that anyone who kills another person with an iron weapon or with a big rock or with a piece of wood is a murderer, and the one who killed the other person must be executed.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.

19A relative of the person who was murdered must be the one who executes the murderer as soon as he finds him.The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.

20If someone shoves another person over a cliff or throws something at another personLikewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,

21or hits that person with his hand and causes that person to die, if he did it because he hated that person, then you must consider that he is a murderer and must be executed. A relative of the person who was killed must be the one who executes the murderer as soon as he finds 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.

22But someone might accidentally shove someone else, or he might accidentally throw something at another person and hit him, but not because he hates that person.But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,

23Or he might drop a rock on someone that he could not see. There is a law for the one who does that did not plan to hurt anyone and did not hate the person who was killed.or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,

24That law is that the people of that city must decide whether the relative of the dead person has the right to get revenge, or whether the one who killed the other person truly did it accidentally.then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

25If they decide that the killer planned to kill the other person, they must not allow him to stay in their city. But if they decide that it was done accidentally, they must protect the killer from being killed by the dead person's relative. They must send the killer to one of the cities where he will be safe, and allow him to stay there until the high priest dies. After that, the killer may go back to his home because the dead person's relative no longer has the right to get revenge.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.

26But while the high priest is still living, the person who is in that safe city must not leave that city.But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled

27If he goes outside the city, and if a relative of the dead person finds him, that relative is permitted to kill that person, and people will not consider that the relative is guilty of murder.and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed,

28The killer must stay in that city where he will be safe until the high priest dies. He could only return to his home after the high priest dies.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.

29You must always obey these legal proceedings, wherever you live.This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.

30If someone is accused of killing another person, the one who is accused may be executed only if there are people who saw him do it. There must be more than one witness. No one is permitted to be executed if there was only one witness.If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.

31If there is a murderer who truly should be executed, do not spare his life by accepting a ransom. He must be executed.You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.

32If someone has run to a city where he will be safe, do not allow him to give you money in order that you will permit him to return to his home before the high priest dies.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.

33You must execute people who truly murder others. If you did not do that, you would be causing the people who live in the land to become unacceptable to me. Anyone who deliberately kills an innocent person must be executed.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.

34I am Yahweh, and I live among you Israelites, so do not spoil the land by allowing people to murder others without being punished.'"Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”

Numbers 35

Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

Six Cities of Refuge

You’ve read Numbers 35

Go Deeper

Numbers 35

Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

Six Cities of Refuge

You’ve read Numbers 35

Go Deeper