| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 1While Israel was camped beside the Jordan on the plains of Moab across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses, | 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 from their property certain towns to live in, along with the surrounding pasturelands. | 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. |
| 3These towns will be for the Levites to live in, and the surrounding lands will provide pasture for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock. | 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 pastureland assigned to the Levites around these towns will extend 1,500 feet from the town walls in every direction. | 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. |
| 5Measure off 3,000 feet outside the town walls in every direction—east, south, west, north—with the town at the center. This area will serve as the larger pastureland for the 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. |
| 6“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can flee for safety. In addition, give them forty-two 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. |
| 7In all, forty-eight towns with the surrounding pastureland will be given to the Levites. | 7"So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. |
| 8These towns will come from the property of the people of Israel. The larger tribes will give more towns to the Levites, while the smaller tribes will give fewer. Each tribe will give property in proportion to the size of its land.” Cities of Refuge | 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. |
| 9The LORD said to Moses, | 9Then the LORD spoke to Moses: |
| 10“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “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, |
| 11designate cities of refuge to which people can flee if they have killed someone accidentally. | 11you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. |
| 12These cities will be places of protection from a dead person’s relatives who want to avenge the death. The slayer must not be put to death before being tried by 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. |
| 13Designate six cities of refuge for yourselves, | 13These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. |
| 14three on the east side of the Jordan River and three on the west in the land of Canaan. | 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 cities are for the protection of Israelites, foreigners living among you, and traveling merchants. Anyone who accidentally kills someone may flee there for safety. | 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 someone strikes and kills another person with a piece of iron, it is murder, and the murderer must be executed. | 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. |
| 17Or if someone with a stone in his hand strikes and kills another person, it is murder, and 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. |
| 18Or if someone strikes and kills another person with a wooden object, it is murder, and 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. |
| 19The victim’s nearest relative is responsible for putting the murderer to death. When they meet, the avenger must put the murderer to death. | 19The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. |
| 20So if someone hates another person and waits in ambush, then pushes him or throws something at him and he dies, it is murder. | 20"But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, |
| 21Or if someone hates another person and hits him with a fist and he dies, it is murder. In such cases, the avenger must put the murderer to death when they meet. | 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 suppose someone pushes another person without having shown previous hostility, or throws something that unintentionally hits another person, | 22"But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, |
| 23or accidentally drops a huge stone on someone, though they were not enemies, and the person dies. | 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, |
| 24If this should happen, the community must follow these regulations in making a judgment between the slayer and the avenger, the victim’s nearest relative: | 24then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions. |
| 25The community must protect the slayer from the avenger and must escort the slayer back to live in the city of refuge to which he fled. There he must remain until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the sacred 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. |
| 26“But if the slayer ever leaves the limits of the city of refuge, | 26But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled, |
| 27and the avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered 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 slayer should have stayed inside the city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to his own property. | 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 legal requirements for you to observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live. | 29So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live. |
| 30“All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of only 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. |
| 31Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always 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 never accept a ransom payment from someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his property 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. |
| 33This will ensure that the land where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from murder. | 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 must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself. I am the LORD, who lives among 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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