| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1The LORD told Moses in the wilderness of Moab, beside the Jordan River near Jericho, | 1Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. He said: |
| 2"Instruct the Israelis to set aside a portion of their inheritance for the descendants of Levi to live in, along with grazing land surrounding their towns. | 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 towns are to be reserved for their dwelling places and the grazing lands are to be reserved for their cattle, livestock, and all their animals. | 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 grazing lands that you are to reserve for use by the descendants of Levi are to extend 1,000 cubits from the walls of the town. | 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. |
| 5You are to measure from outside the wall of the town on the east side 2,000 cubits, on the south side 2,000 cubits, on the west side 2,000 cubits, and on the north side 2,000 cubits, with the town placed at the center. This reserved area is to serve as grazing land for their towns. | 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. |
| 6You are to set aside six towns of refuge from the towns that you will be giving to the descendants of Levi, where someone who kills a human being may run for shelter. In addition, give them 42 other towns. | 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. |
| 7The total number of towns that you are to give to the descendants of Levi is to be 48 towns, including grazing lands surrounding these towns. | 7"So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. |
| 8You are to apportion the towns that you will be giving the Israelis according to the relative size of the tribe. Take a larger portion from those larger in number and a lesser portion from those fewer in number. Each is to set aside towns for the descendants of Levi proportional to the size of their inheritance that they receive." | 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. |
| 9Then the LORD told Moses, | 9Then the LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 10"Tell the Israelis that when they have crossed the Jordan River 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, |
| 11they are to designate some towns of refuge so that anyone who kills someone inadvertently 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. |
| 12They are to serve as cities of refuge from a blood avenger in order to keep the inadvertent killer from dying until he has stood trial in the presence of the community. | 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. |
| 13You are to set aside six towns of refuge. | 13These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. |
| 14Appoint three towns this side of the Jordan River and three towns in the land of Canaan to serve as the towns 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. |
| 15that is, places of refuge for the Israelis, the resident alien, and any travelers among them. Anyone who kills a person inadvertently 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"Whoever uses an iron implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to 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. |
| 17Furthermore, whoever uses a stone implement to kill someone is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to 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. |
| 18Also, whoever uses a wooden implement to kill someone with it is to be adjudged a murderer, and that murderer is certainly to 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 blood avenger himself is to execute the murderer. When he meets him, the blood avenger is to put him to death. | 19The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. |
| 20If the killer shoved his victim out of hatred, or hurled something at him while waiting in ambush so that he died, | 20"But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, |
| 21or if he struck him with his hand out of hatred so that he died, then the killer is certainly to be put to death for murder. The avenger of blood is to put him 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 hatred, or if he hurled something in his direction without waiting in ambush, | 22"But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, |
| 23or if he hit him with a stone carelessly so that he was fatally injured, though he isn't his enemy and he wasn't seeking to commit evil against him, | 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 community is to judge between the inadvertent killer and the blood avenger, following these ordinances. | 24then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. |
| 25The community is to release the inadvertent killer from the blood avenger and return him to the town of refuge where he had fled. He is to live there until the High Priest dies, who will have anointed him with 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 inadvertent killer leaves the town of refuge where he had fled | 26But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, |
| 27and the blood avenger finds him outside the town of refuge where he had fled and kills him, the blood avenger is not to be found guilty of murder. | 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, |
| 28The inadvertent killer is to live in the town of refuge until the High Priest dies. After the death of the High Priest, the inadvertent killer is to return to the land of his inheritance. | 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. |
| 29These are to be the statutes and ordinances for you throughout all your generations, regardless of where you live." | 29So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live. |
| 30"Every murderer of a human being is to be executed only according to testimony given by multiple witnesses. A single witness is not to result in a death sentence. | 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. |
| 31You are to receive no ransom for the life of a killer who is guilty of murder; instead, he is to die. | 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. |
| 32You are not to receive payment of a ransom for someone who had fled to a town of refuge but then left to live in his homeland 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 are not to pollute the land where you live, because blood defiles the land, and the land cannot atone for blood that has been spilled on it, except through the blood of the one who spilled 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 are not to defile the land where you will be living, because I'm living among you. I am the LORD, who lives in 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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