1 “After the Lord your God has destroyed the people whose land he is giving you and after you have taken their cities and houses and settled there,
2-3 divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then any of you that kill will be able to escape to one of them for protection.
4 If you accidentally kill someone who is not your enemy, you may escape to any of these cities and be safe.
5 For example, if two of you go into the forest together to cut wood and if, as one of you is chopping down a tree, the ax head comes off the handle and kills the other, you can run to one of those three cities and be safe.