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Numbers 35 :: New International Version (NIV)

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Towns for the Levites

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:1 - On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:2 - “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:3 - Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:4 - “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits[fn] from the town wall.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:5 - Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits[fn] on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west and two thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.

Cities of Refuge

Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:6 - “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:7 - In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:8 - The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”
(Deu 19:1–13; Jos 20:1–9 )
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:9 - Then the LORD said to Moses:
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:10 - “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:11 - select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:12 - They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that anyone accused of murder may not die before they stand trial before the assembly.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:13 - These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:14 - Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:15 - These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:16 - “ ‘If anyone strikes someone a fatal blow with an iron object, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:17 - Or if anyone is holding a stone and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:18 - Or if anyone is holding a wooden object and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:19 - The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:20 - If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally so that they die
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:21 - or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death; that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when they meet.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:22 - “ ‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:23 - or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended,
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:24 - the assembly must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:25 - The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:26 - “ ‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:27 - and the avenger of blood finds them outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:28 - The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:29 - “ ‘This is to have the force of law for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:30 - “ ‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:31 - “ ‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:32 - “ ‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:33 - “ ‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
Unchecked Copy BoxNum 35:34 - Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.’ ”
NIV Footnotes
That is, about 1,500 feet or about 450 meters
That is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters
NIV

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