| English Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, | 1Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. He said: |
| 2“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. | 2"Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. |
| 3The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. | 3Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. |
| 4The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all around. | 4The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards from the town wall. |
| 5And 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, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities. | 5"You must measure from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. |
| 6“The cities that you give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. | 6Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. And you must give them forty-two other towns. |
| 7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. | 7"So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. |
| 8And as for the cities that you shall give from the possession of the people of Israel, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.” | 8The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each. |
| 9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 9Then the LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, | 10"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, |
| 11then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. | 11you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. |
| 12The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. | 12And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. |
| 13And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. | 13These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. |
| 14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. | 14"You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. |
| 15These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there. | 15These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there. |
| 16“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. | 16"But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. |
| 17And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. | 17If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. |
| 18Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. | 18Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. |
| 19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. | 19The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. |
| 20And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, | 20"But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, |
| 21or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him. | 21or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him. |
| 22“But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait | 22"But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, |
| 23or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, | 23or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, |
| 24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. | 24then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. |
| 25And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. | 25The community must deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the community must restore him to the town of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the consecrated oil. |
| 26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, | 26But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, |
| 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. | 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood, |
| 28For he must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. | 28because the slayer should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions. |
| 29And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. | 29So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live. |
| 30“If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. | 30"Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony of witnesses; but one witness cannot testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. |
| 31Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. | 31Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. |
| 32And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. | 32And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. |
| 33You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. | 33"You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. |
| 34You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, for I the LORD dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.” | 34Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the LORD live among the Israelites." |
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