1 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

2 Command the children of Israel, to give the Levites cities to dwell in out of the inheritance that they possess; and you shall also give to the Levites the suburbs or pasture lands that surround the cities.

3 And they shall have the cities to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

4 And the suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.

5 And you shall measure outside the city two thousand cubits on the east side, and two thousand cubits on the south side, and two thousand cubits on the west side, and two thousand cubits on the north side; and the city shall be in the midst: this will be to them the suburbs of the cities.

6 And among the cities that you give to the Levites there shall be six cities of refuge, which you shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee there: and to those you shall add forty-two cities.

7 So all the cities that you shall give to the Levites shall number forty-eight cities: you shall give them along with their suburbs.

8 And in regard to the cities that you provide from what is possessed by the children of Israel: you shall give many from those who have many; but you shall give few from those who have few: every tribe shall give some of its cities to the Levites according to the inheritance it receives.

9 ¶ And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

10 Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, When you have crossed over the Jordan into the land of Canaan;

11 Then you shall appoint cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer, who kills any person unintentionally, may flee there.

12 And they shall be for you cities of refuge from the avenger; so that the manslayer does not die, before he stands in front of the congregation for judgment.

13 And of the cities which you give you shall have six cities for refuge.

14 You shall specify three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge.

15 These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the traveler among them: that every one who kills any person unintentionally may flee there.

16 But if he strikes him with an instrument of iron, so that he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

17 And if he struck him down by throwing a stone, which could kill him, and he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

18 Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand, which could kill him, and he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.

19 The avenger of blood shall himself slay the murderer: when he meets him, he shall slay him.

20 But if he stabbed him out of hatred, or hurls something at him after lying in wait, so that he dies;

21 Or in enmity strikes him with his hand, so that he dies: the one who struck him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meets him.

22 But if he stabbed him suddenly without enmity, or threw anything at him without lying in wait,

23 Or without seeing him, drops a stone on him, which could kill a man, so that he dies, but was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm:

24 Then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments:

25 And the congregation shall rescue the slayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to his city of refuge, where he had fled: and he shall remain in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

26 But if the slayer shall at any time go beyond the bounds of the city of his refuge, to which he had fled;

27 And the avenger of blood finds him outside the bounds of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood:

28 Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return to the land of his possession.

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

30 If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses: but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

31 Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return and dwell in his home, before the death of the priest.

33 So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood defiles the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

34 Therefore do not defile the land which you shall inhabit, in which I dwell: for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.