Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites
(Joshua 21:1–45; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81)

1And YHWH spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho, saying, 2“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and pastureland around the cities you⁺ shall give the Levites. 3And the cities shall be for them to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle, and for their herds, and for all their animals.

4And the pasturelands of the cities that you⁺ shall give the Levites is from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits all around.† 5And you⁺ shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand by the cubit,† and on the side of the Negev two thousand by the cubit, and on the west side two thousand by the cubit, and on the north side two thousand by the cubit; and the city is in the middle. This shall be unto them as pasturelands for the cities.

6And among the cities that you⁺ shall give to the Levites are six cities of refuge, which you⁺ shall give for the fleeing there of the manslayer. And to these you⁺ shall add forty-two cities. 7And all the cities that you⁺ will give to the Levites are forty-eight cities—these and their pasturelands. 8And the cities that you⁺ give from the possession of the sons of Israel—from the larger you⁺ shall give many and from the smaller you⁺ shall give few—each in proportion to the inheritance that each receives should be given of its cities to the Levites.”

Six Cities of Refuge
(Deuteronomy 4:41–43; Deuteronomy 19:1–14; Joshua 20:1–9)

9And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying, 10“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: When you⁺ cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11you⁺ shall appoint for yourselves cities—cities of refuge to be for you⁺, that may flee there the manslayer who kills a person accidentally. 12And they shall be for you⁺ cities of refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the face of the congregation for judgment.

13And of the cities that you⁺ give, six will be to you⁺ cities of refuge. 14Three cities you⁺ shall appoint on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you⁺ shall appoint in the land of Canaan—they are cities of refuge. 15For the sons of Israel and for the sojourner and for the stranger among them shall be these six cities for refuge; anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.

16But if he strikes him with an iron implement and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. 17And if with a stone in the hand, with which one could die by it, he strikes him and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. 18Or if with a wooden weapon in the hand, with which one could die by it, he strikes him and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

19The avenger of blood himself shall put to death the murderer; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

20And if out of hatred he pushes him or hurls something at him while lying in wait, and he dies, 21or in enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put to death the murderer when he meets him.

22And if suddenly without enmity he pushes him or throws at him any object without lying in wait, 23or with any stone with which a man could die by it, without seeing him, and throwing it at him so that he dies, and he is not an enemy to him or seeking his harm, 24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and between the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. 25And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where there he had fled; and he shall remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the oil of holiness.

26But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge, where there he fled, 27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, 28because in his city of refuge he should have remained until the death of the high priest. And after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29And these shall be to you⁺ a statute of judgment throughout your⁺ generations in all your⁺ dwellings.

30Whoever kills a person, on the testimony of witnesses the murderer shall be put to death. And one witness shall not testify against a person to die.

31And you⁺ shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is is condemned to die; for he must surely be put to death. 32And you⁺ shall take no ransom for him who has fled to the city of his refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.

33And you⁺ shall not pollute the land that you⁺ are in because the blood itself defiles the land; and for the land atonement cannot be made for the blood that is shed on it, except if by the blood of him who shed it. 34You shall not defile the land that you⁺ are dwelling in, in the midst of which I dwell. For I, YHWH, dwell among the sons of Israel.”