Numbers 35

And the Lord spoke to Moses at the west of Moab by the Jordan opposite Iericho, saying:

Give orders to the sons of Israel, and they shall give to the Levites, from the lots of their possession, cities to dwell in; and the suburbs of the cities round about them they shall give to the Levites.

And the cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their separated lands shall be for their cattle and for all their four-footed animals.

And the adjoining lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be from the wall of the city and outward two thousand cubits round about.

And you shall measure outside the city: the side toward the east two thousand cubits, and the side toward the south two thousand cubits, and the side toward the sea two thousand cubits, and the side toward the north two thousand cubits; and the city shall be in the middle of this. This shall be for you, and the bordering lands of the cities.

And the cities you shall give to the Levites: the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the one who has killed to flee there; and in addition to these, forty-two cities.

All the cities you shall give to the Levites: forty-eight cities, these and their suburbs.

And the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel: from those who have much, much; and from those who have less, less; each according to his inheritance which they shall inherit, they shall give from their cities to the Levites.

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: You are crossing the Jordan into the land of Chanaan.

And you shall designate for yourselves cities: they shall be cities of refuge for you, for the manslayer to flee there, everyone who has struck a soul unintentionally.

And the cities shall be for you places of refuge from the one who acts as next of kin for the blood, and the one who murders shall not die until he stands before the congregation for judgement.

And the cities which you shall give, the six cities, shall be places of refuge for you.

The three cities you shall give in the region beyond the Jordan, and the three cities you shall give in the land of Chanaan.

It shall be a place of refuge for the sons of Israel and for the proselyte and for the sojourner who is among you; these cities shall be for a place of refuge, to flee there, for everyone who has struck a soul unintentionally.

But if he strikes him with an implement of iron and he expires, he is a murderer; with death let the murderer be put to death.

But if he strikes him with a stone from the hand, by which he will die by it, and he dies, he is a murderer; with death let the murderer be put to death.

But if he strikes him with a wooden implement from the hand, from which he will die by it, and he dies, he is a murderer; with death let the murderer be put to death.

The one who acts as next of kin for the blood, this one shall kill the one who murdered; when he meets him, this one shall kill him.

But if out of enmity he pushes him and throws upon him any implement from ambush, and he dies,

or out of wrath he struck him with the hand and he dies, with death let the one who struck be put to death, he is a murderer; with death let the one who murders be put to death. The one who acts as next of kin for the blood shall kill the one who murdered when he meets him.

But if suddenly, not out of enmity, he pushes him, or throws upon him any implement not from ambush,

or with any stone by which he will die by it, not knowing, and it falls upon him and he dies, and he was not his enemy nor seeking to do him harm,

then the congregation shall judge between the one who struck and the one who acts as next of kin for the blood, according to these judgments.

And the congregation shall rescue the one who murdered from the one who acts as next of kin for the blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, where he fled; and he shall dwell there until the great priest dies, whom they anointed with the holy oil.

But if by going out the one who murdered goes out beyond the borders of the city into which he fled there,

and the one who acts as next of kin for the blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the one who acts as next of kin for the blood kills the one who murdered, he is not guilty.

For let him dwell in the city of refuge until the great priest dies; and after the great priest dies, the one who murdered shall return to the land of his possession.

And these things shall be to you for a statute of judgment throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Everyone who strikes a soul — by witnesses you shall slay the one who murdered; and one witness shall not testify against a soul that it should die.

And you shall not take ransoms for a soul from the one who murdered, who is liable to be put to death; for with death he shall be put to death.

You shall not take ransoms for him to flee to a city of the places of refuge, so as to dwell again upon the land until the great priest dies.

And you shall not stain the land with slaughter, the land into which you dwell; for this blood stains the land with slaughter, and the land shall not be atoned for from the blood that was poured out upon it, but by the blood of the one who pours it out.

And you shall not defile the land on which you dwell upon it, on which I will encamp among you; for I am the Lord who encamps in the midst of the sons of Israel.