Numbers 35

1 And YHWH spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, near Jericho, saying, 2 “Command the sons of Israel, and they will give to the Levites cities to inhabit from the inheritance of their possession. You will also give the outskirt around them, of the cities, to the Levites. 3 And the cities will be for them to inhabit, and their outskirts for their livestock, and for their goods, and for all their beasts. 4 And the outskirts of the cities which you give to the Levites will be, from the wall of the city and outside, 1,000 cubits around. 5 And you measure from the outside of the city: the east quarter—2,000 by the cubit, and the south quarter—2,000 by the cubit, and the west quarter—2,000 by the cubit, and the north quarter—2,000 by the cubit. And the city will be in the middle. This will be the outskirts of the cities to them. 6 And the cities which you give to the Levites will be the six cities of refuge, which you give for the fleeing there of the manslayer, and besides them you give 42 cities. 7 All the cities which you give to the Levites will be 48 cities, them and their outskirts. 8 And the cities which you give will be from the possession of the sons of Israel. From the many you multiply, and from the few you diminish. Each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, gives to the Levites from his cities.” 9 And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you will say to them: When you are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan, 11 and have prepared cities for yourselves—they will be cities of refuge to you—then a manslayer, striking a person through ignorance, will flee there, 12 and the cities will be for a refuge to you from the redeemer, and the manslayer will not die until his standing before the congregation for judgment. 13 As for the cities which you give, six will be cities of refuge to you. 14 Three of the cities you give from beyond the Jordan, and three of the cities you give in the land of Canaan. They will be cities of refuge. 15 For sons of Israel, and for a sojourner, and for a settler in their middle, will be these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing there of anyone striking a person through ignorance. 16 And if he strikes him with an instrument of iron, and he dies, he will be a murderer: the murderer will be certainly put to death. 17 And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he will be a murderer: the murderer will be certainly put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden instrument in the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he will be a murderer: the murderer will be certainly put to death. 19 The redeemer of blood will put the murderer to death himself. In his coming against him he will put him to death. 20 And if he pushes him in hatred, or throws anything at him by lying in wait, and he dies, 21 or he strikes him with his hand in enmity, and he dies, the striker will be certainly put to death. He will be a murderer. The redeemer of blood will put the murderer to death in his coming against him. 22 And if, in an instant, without enmity, he pushes him, or throws any instrument at him without lying in wait, 23 or with any stone with which he could die, without seeing, indeed, causes it to fall on him, and he dies, and he is not his enemy, nor seeking his evil, 24 then the congregation will judge between the striker and the redeemer of blood by these judgments. 25 And the congregation will deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the congregation will caused him to return to the city of his refuge, to where he will flee, and stay in it until the death of the chief priest who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 And if the manslayer indeed goes out from the border of the city of his refuge to where he fled, 27 and the redeemer of blood has found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge, and the redeemer of blood has killed the manslayer, blood will not be reckoned to him. 28 For he stays in the city of his refuge until the death of the chief priest. And after the death of the chief priest the manslayer turns back to the city of his possession. 29 And these things will be for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations, in all your settlements. 30 Whoever strikes a person, by the mouth of witnesses one kills the murderer. And one witness will not testify against a person to cause him to die. 31 And you will take no atonement for the life of a murderer who is condemned to die, for he will be certainly put to death. 32 And you will take no atonement for him who had to flee to the city of his refuge, to return to stay in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 And you will not profane the land which you are in, for blood profanes the land. As for the land, it will not be pardoned for blood which is spilled in it except by the blood of him who spills it. 34 And you will not defile the land in which you are staying, in the middle of which I stay, for I, YHWH, stay in the middle of the sons of Israel.”


Next: Chapter 36

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