1 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh in the desert plains of Mo’aḇ by the Yardĕn of Yeriḥo, saying,
2 “Command the children of Yisra’ĕl that they shall give the Lĕwites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession. Also give the Lĕwites open land around the cities.
3 “And they shall have the cities to dwell in, and their open land for their cattle, and for their herds, and for all their livestock.
4 “And the open land of the cities which you give the Lĕwites are from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits 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. And the city is in the middle. This is to them the open land for the cities.
6 “And the cities which you give to the Lĕwites are the six cities of refuge, which you give to him who killed someone to flee to, and to these you add forty-two cities.
7 “All the cities which you give to the Lĕwites are forty-eight, these with their open land.
8 “And the cities which you give are from the possession of the children of Yisra’ĕl. From the larger tribe you give many, from the smaller you give few, each one gives some of its cities to the Lĕwites, in proportion to the inheritance that each inherits.”
9 And יהוה spoke to Mosheh, saying,
10 “Speak to the children of Yisra’ĕl, and say to them, ‘When you pass over the Yardĕn into the land of Kena‛an,
11 then you shall choose cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the one who accidentally killed someone shall flee there.
12 ‘And they shall be cities of refuge for you from the revenger, and the one who killed someone is not to die until he stands before the congregation in right-ruling.
13 ‘And of the cities which you give, six are to be cities of refuge.
14 ‘Give three cities beyond the Yardĕn, and give three cities in the land of Kena‛an, as cities of refuge.
15 ‘These six cities are for refuge for the children of Yisra’ĕl, and for the sojourner, and for the settler in their midst, for anyone who accidentally kills someone to flee there.
16 ‘But if he has smitten him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
17 ‘And if he has smitten him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
18 ‘Or if he has smitten him with a wooden instrument that could kill, and he does die, he is a murderer. The murderer shall certainly be put to death.
19 ‘The revenger of blood himself puts the murderer to death. When he meets him, he puts him to death.
20 ‘And if he thrusts him through in hatred, or throws an object at him while lying in wait, so that he dies,
21 or in enmity he smites him with his hand so that he dies, the one who smote him shall certainly be put to death, for he is a murderer. The revenger of blood puts the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 ‘But if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws an object at him without lying in wait,
23 or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm,
24 then the congregation shall judge between him who killed someone and the revenger of blood, according to these right-rulings.
25 ‘And the congregation shall rescue the one who killed someone from the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the set-apart oil.
26 ‘But if the one who killed someone at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled,
27 and the revenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the revenger of blood kills him who killed someone, he is not guilty of blood,
28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest he who killed someone is to return to the land of his possession.
29 ‘And these shall be for a law of right-ruling to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30 ‘Whoever kills someone has to be put to death as a murderer by the mouth of witnesses, but only one witness does not bear witness against someone to die.
31 ‘And take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly be put to death.
32 ‘And take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge to return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.
33 ‘And do not profane the land where you are, for blood profanes the land, and the land is not pardoned for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
34 ‘And do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, יהוה, am dwelling in the midst of the children of Yisra’ĕl.’ ”