| NET Bible | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. He said: | 1The LORD again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:" |
| 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. | 2Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities. |
| 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. | 3The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals. |
| 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. | 4The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall 500 yards on every side. |
| 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. | 5Measure 1,000 yards outside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards for the south side, 1,000 yards for the west side, and 1,000 yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the 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. | 6The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities. |
| 7"So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. | 7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands. |
| 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. | 8Of the cities that you give from the Israelites' territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives." |
| 9Then the LORD spoke to Moses: | 9The LORD said to Moses, " |
| 10"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, | 10Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, |
| 11you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. | 11designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. |
| 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. | 12You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. |
| 13These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. | 13The cities you select will be your six 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. | 14Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge. |
| 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. | 15These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there." |
| 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. | 16If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must 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. | 17If a man has in his hand a stone capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must 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. | 18If a man has in his hand a wooden object capable of causing death and strikes another person and he dies, the murderer must be put to death. |
| 19The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. | 19The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him. |
| 20"But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, | 20Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and he dies, |
| 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. | 21or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood is to kill the murderer when he finds him." |
| 22"But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, | 22But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent |
| 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, | 23or without looking drops a stone that could kill a person and he dies, but he was not his enemy and wasn't trying to harm him, |
| 24then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. | 24the assembly is to judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. |
| 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. | 25The assembly is to protect the one who kills someone from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge he fled to, and he must live there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil." |
| 26But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, | 26If the one who kills someone ever goes outside the border of the city of refuge he fled to, |
| 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, | 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, |
| 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. | 28for the one who killed a person was supposed to live in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may the one who has killed a person return to the land he possesses. |
| 29So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live. | 29These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live." |
| 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. | 30If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness. |
| 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. | 31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of killing someone; he must be put to death. |
| 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. | 32Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest." |
| 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. | 33Do not defile the land where you are, for bloodshed defiles the land, and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. |
| 34Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the LORD live among the Israelites." | 34Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I reside; for I, Yahweh, reside among the Israelites." |
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