| English Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1The LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, | 1The LORD again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:" |
| 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. | 2Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities. |
| 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. | 3The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other 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 pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall 500 yards on every side. |
| 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. | 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." |
| 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. | 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. |
| 7All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasturelands. | 7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands. |
| 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.” | 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." |
| 9And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, | 9The LORD said to Moses, " |
| 10“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, | 10Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan 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. | 11designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 13And the cities that you give shall be your six cities of refuge. | 13The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. |
| 14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. | 14Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities 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 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 struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall 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. |
| 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 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 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. | 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 shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. | 19The avenger of blood himself is to kill the murderer; when he finds him, he is to kill him. |
| 20And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, lying in wait, so that he died, | 20Likewise, if anyone in hatred pushes a person or throws an object at him with malicious intent and 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 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 pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait | 22But if anyone suddenly pushes a person without hostility or throws any object at him without malicious intent |
| 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 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 congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. | 24the assembly is to judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. |
| 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 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 manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he 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 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 border of his city of refuge and kills him, the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, |
| 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. | 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. |
| 29And these things shall be for a statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places. | 29These instructions will be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever 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. | 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 shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall 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 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. | 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." |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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.” | 34Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I reside; for I, Yahweh, reside among the Israelites." |
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