(Joshua 21:1–45; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81)
1
And YHWH speaks to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, [near] Jericho, saying,
2
“Command the sons of Israel, and they have given to the Levites cities to inhabit from the inheritance of their possession; you also give [the] outskirt around them, of the cities, to the Levites.
3
And the cities have been for them to inhabit, and their outskirts are for their livestock, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.
4
And the outskirts of the cities which you give to the Levites [are], from the wall of the city and outside, one thousand cubits around.
5
And you have measured from the outside of the city: the east quarter—two thousand by the cubit, and the south quarter—two thousand by the cubit, and the west quarter—two thousand by the cubit, and the north quarter—two thousand by the cubit; and the city [is] in the midst; this is the outskirts of the cities to them.
6
And the cities which you give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge, which you give for the fleeing there of the manslayer, and besides them you give forty-two cities;
7
all the cities which you give to the Levites [are] forty-eight cities, them and their outskirts.
8
And the cities which you give [are] from the possession of the sons of Israel; from the many you multiply, and from the few you diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit, gives to the Levites from his cities.”
Six Cities of Refuge
(Deuteronomy 4:41–43; Deuteronomy 19:1–14; Joshua 20:1–9)
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.
16
And if he has struck him with an instrument of iron, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
17
And if he has struck him with a stone [in] the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
18
Or [if] he has struck him with a wooden instrument [in] the hand, with which he could die, and he dies, he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
19
The redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death himself; in his coming against him he puts him to death.
20
And if he pushes him in hatred, or has cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dies,
21
or he has struck him with his hand in enmity, and he dies, the striker is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood puts the murderer to death in his coming against him.
22
And if, in an instant, without enmity, he has pushed him, or has cast any instrument at him without lying in wait,
23
or with any stone with which he could die, without seeing, indeed, causes [it] to fall on him, and he dies, and he [is] not his enemy, nor seeking his evil,
24
then the congregation has judged between the striker and the redeemer of blood by these judgments.
25
And the congregation has delivered the manslayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the congregation has caused him to return to the city of his refuge, to where he has fled, and he has dwelt in it until the death of the chief priest who has been anointed with the holy oil.
26
And if the manslayer indeed goes out [from] the border of the city of his refuge to where he flees,
27
and the redeemer of blood has found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge, and the redeemer of blood has slain the manslayer, blood [is] not [reckoned] to him;
28
for he dwells in the city of his refuge until the death of the chief priest; and after the death of the chief priest the manslayer turns back to the city of his possession.
29
And these things have been for a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations, in all your dwellings.
30
Whoever strikes a person, by the mouth of witnesses [one] slays the murderer; and one witness does not testify against a person to cause [him] to die.
31
And you take no atonement for the life of a murderer who [is] condemned to die, for he is certainly put to death;
32
and you take no atonement for him [who had] to flee to the city of his refuge, to return to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
33
And you do not profane the land which you [are] in, for blood profanes the land; as for the land, it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheds it;
34
and you do not defile the land in which you are dwelling, in the midst of which I dwell, for I, YHWH, dwell in the midst of the sons of Israel.”
Copyright © 2020 Covenant Press and the CCC - licensed under CC BY-SA