Cities Assigned to the Levites
Numbers 35, verse 1. Now the Lord spoke to Moses west of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, Numbers 35, verse 2. “Order the children of Israel to give the Levites cities to dwell in from the allotment of their possession, and to give the Levites the grazing lands around their cities. Numbers 35, verse 3. They shall have cities to dwell in and grazing lands for their cattle and for all their four-footed animals. Numbers 35, verse 4. The grazing lands of the cities which you shall give the Levites shall extend from the walls of the city outward two thousand cubits all around. Numbers 35, verse 5. So you shall measure outside the city: on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits; and the city in the middle of this shall be for you, and the contiguous areas of the cities. Numbers 35, verse 6. You shall also give the Levites six cities of refuge, which you will give them for a manslayer to flee there; and you shall also give them forty-two cities in addition to these. Numbers 35, verse 7. So all the cities you shall give the Levites shall be forty-eight, along with their grazing lands. Numbers 35, verse 8. Now concerning the cities you shall give the Levites from the possession of the children of Israel: from the larger tribes you shall give many cities, and from the smaller ones you shall give fewer. In proportion to its inheritance, each tribe shall give from its inheritance some of its cities to the Levites.”
Cities of Refuge
Numbers 35, verse 9. Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Numbers 35, verse 10. “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, ‘You shall cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, Numbers 35, verse 11. and you shall separate cities for yourselves to be cities of refuge, for any manslayer who kills someone involuntarily to flee there. Numbers 35, verse 12. These shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger of blood, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. Numbers 35, verse 13. So the cities you give shall be six cities of refuge for you. Numbers 35, verse 14. You shall designate three cities beyond the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. Numbers 35, verse 15. These cities shall be places of refuge for the children of Israel, and for the resident alien and the sojourner among you, that anyone who kills someone involuntarily may flee there as a place of refuge. Numbers 35, verse 16. But if anyone should strike someone with an iron tool, and that one dies, he is a murderer; so let the murderer be put to death. Numbers 35, verse 17. Also if anyone should strike someone with a stone from his hand by which that one could die, and that one does die, he is a murderer; so let the murderer be put to death. Numbers 35, verse 18. Or if anyone should strike someone with a wooden tool by which that one could die, and that one does die, he is a murderer; so let the murderer be put to death. Numbers 35, verse 19. The avenger of blood himself shall kill the murderer; and whenever he meets him, he shall kill him. Numbers 35, verse 20. Or if anyone should shove someone because of enmity, or should throw any tool at him from an ambush, and that one dies, Numbers 35, verse 21. or if anyone should strike someone in anger with his hand, and that one dies, let the one who killed him be put to death. He is a murderer. So let the murderer be put to death. The avenger of blood shall kill the murderer when he meets him. Numbers 35, verse 22. ‘However, if anyone should shove someone unexpectedly, but not because of enmity, or throw any tool at him, but not from an ambush, Numbers 35, verse 23. or is working with any stone by which that one could die, and he threw it at him unknowingly, and that one dies, but he was not his enemy, nor was he seeking to harm him, Numbers 35, verse 24. then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood based on these judgments. Numbers 35, verse 25. So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he fled; and he shall live there until the high priest whom they anointed with the holy oil should die. Numbers 35, verse 26. But if the manslayer should go outside the boundaries of the city where he fled, Numbers 35, verse 27. and the avenger of blood should find him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he is not liable. Numbers 35, verse 28. So let him live in his city of refuge until the high priest should die; then after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession. Numbers 35, verse 29. So these things shall be ordinances of judgment for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. Numbers 35, verse 30. ‘Whoever takes a life, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but a single witness is not sufficient testimony for the death penalty. Numbers 35, verse 31. Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer subject to the death penalty, for he shall be put to death. Numbers 35, verse 32. Also you shall accept no ransom from one who fled to one of the cities of refuge, that he may again return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. Numbers 35, verse 33. So you shall not defile with murder the land in which you dwell; for blood defiles the land, and there is no atonement for the land from the blood shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it. Numbers 35, verse 34. Therefore do not defile the land on which you dwell and on which I shall pitch My tabernacle among you; for I am the Lord who tabernacles among the children of Israel.’”