Numbers 35:9-15 ▼

9 And YHWH speaks to Moses, saying,

10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you have said to them: When you are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan,

11 and have prepared cities for yourselves—they are cities of refuge to you—then a manslayer, striking a person through ignorance, has fled there,

12 and the cities have been for a refuge to you from the redeemer, and the manslayer does not die until his standing before the congregation for judgment.

13 As for the cities which you give, six [are] cities of refuge to you;

14 three of the cities you give from beyond the Jordan, and three of the cities you give in the land of Canaan; they are cities of refuge.

15 For sons of Israel, and for a sojourner, and for a settler in their midst, are these six cities for a refuge, for the fleeing there of anyone striking a person through ignorance.