Numbers 35 – Verses from Numbers 35 from the book of Numbers in the Bible.
1 In the plains of Moab, by the Jordan, on the other side of Jericho, the Lord said to Moses:
Adverts
2 “Command the Israelites to give cities for the Levites to live from their inheritance. And also give them pastures around the cities.
3 Then they will have cities to live in and pastures for their cattle and flocks and all their other livestock.
4 “The pastures around the cities that you give to the Levites will extend outward four hundred and fifty meters from the city wall.
5 Outside the city, measure three thousand feet east, south, west, and north, with the city in the center. They will have this area for pastures in the cities.
Adverts
6 “Six of the cities that you give to the Levites will be cities of refuge, where anyone who has killed anyone can flee. In addition, give them another forty-two cities.
7 In total, you will give the Levites forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands.
8 The cities that they give to the Levites, from the lands of the Israelites, must be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe; take many cities from the tribe that has many, but few from the tribe that has few.”
9 The Lord also said to Moses:
10 “Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan and enter Canaan,
11 choose some cities to be your cities of refuge, where anyone who has killed someone unintentionally can flee.
12 They will be places of refuge against the victim's avenger, so that someone accused of murder does not die before appearing for trial before the community.
13 The six cities you give will be your cities of refuge.
14 Designate three cities of refuge on this side of the Jordan and three others in Canaan.
15 The six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites, the resident foreigners, and any other foreigners living among them, so that anyone who has killed someone unintentionally can flee there.
16 “If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that that person dies, he is a murderer; the murderer will have to be executed.
17 Or, if anyone holds a stone in his hand that can kill, and injures a person so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer will have to be executed.
18 Or, if someone holds in his hands a piece of wood that can kill, and injures a person so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer will have to be executed.
19 The victim's avenger will kill the murderer; when he finds him he will kill him.
20 If someone, out of hatred, deliberately pushes a person or throws something at them so that they die,
21 or if he punches him with hostility, causing his death, he will have to be executed; He's a killer. The victim's avenger will kill the killer when he finds him.
22 “However, if someone, without hostility, pushes a person or throws something at them unintentionally,
23 or if, without seeing her, he drops a stone on her that could kill her, and she dies, then, as he was not her enemy and did not intend to harm her,
24 the community shall judge between him and the avenger of the victim according to these laws.
25 The community will protect the accused murderer from the victim's avenger and send him back to the city of refuge to which he had fled. There it will remain until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with holy oil.
26 “If, however, the accused leaves the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled
27 and the victim's avenger finds him outside the city, he may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
28 The accused must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest will he be able to return to his property.
29 “These legal requirements will be for you and your future generations, wherever you live.
30 “Whoever kills a person will have to be executed as a murderer based on witness testimony. But no one will be executed on the testimony of just one witness.
31 “Do not accept ransom for the life of a murderer; he deserves to die. It will certainly have to be executed.
32 “Do not accept ransom for someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in his own land before the death of the high priest.
33 “Do not desecrate the land where you are. The shedding of blood profanes the land, and propitiation can only be made in favor of the land on which blood has been shed through the blood of the murderer who spilled it.
34 Do not defile the land where you live and where I live, for I, the Lord, live among the Israelites.”
