Numbers:35

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* And the Lord spoke unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho , saying , * Command the children of Israel , that they give unto the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in ; and an open space for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites . * And the cities shall serve them to dwell in ; and their open spaces shall be for their cattle , and for their goods , and for all their requirements . * And the open spaces of the cities , which ye shall give unto the Levites , shall reach from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about . * And ye shall measure from without 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 , with the city in the midst : this shall be to them the open spaces of the cities . * And the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge , which ye shall appoint that the manslayer may flee thither ; and in addition to them shall ye give forty and two cities . * All the cities which ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities , they with their open spaces . * And the cities which ye shall give of the possession of the children of Israel , from the tribe that hath many shall ye give many ; but from the one that hath few shall ye give few : every one according to its inheritance which it may inherit shall give of its cities unto the Levites . * And the Lord spoke unto Moses . saying , * Speak unto the children of Israel , and say unto them , When ye have passed over the Jordan into the land of Canaan : * Then ye shall appoint unto yourselves proper cities , that they be cities of refuge for you ; and thither shall flee the manslayer who killeth any person at unawares . * And these cities shall be unto you for a refuge from the avenger ; that the manslayer die not , until he have stood before the congregation for trial . * And the cities which ye shall give , shall be six cities of refuge unto you ; * Three of these cities shall ye give on this side of the Jordan , and the three other cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan : cities of refuge shall they be . * For the children of Israel , and for the stranger , and for the sojourner among them , shall these six cities be for a refuge : that every one may flee thither that killeth any person at unawares . * And if he have smitten him with an instrument of iron , so that he die , he is a murderer : the murderer shall surely be put to death . * And if he have smitten him with a stone which one can take in the hand , wherewith he may die , and he die , he is a murderer : the murderer shall surely be put to death . * Or if he have smitten him with an article of wood , which one can take in the hand , wherewith he may die , and he die , he is a murderer : the murderer shall surely be put to death . * The avenger of the blood himself shall slay the murderer ; when he meeteth him , shall he slay him . * And if he push against him out of hatred , or he have hurled at him by lying in wait , that he die ; * Or if in enmity he have smitten him with his hand , that he died , he that smote him shall surely be put to death ; he is a murderer : the avenger of the blood shall slay the murderer , when he meeteth with him . * But if he have pushed against him accidentally without enmity , or have cast upon him any thing without lying in wait , * Or with any stone wherewith a man may die , without seeing him , and he have let it fall upon him that he died ; whereas he was not his enemy , and did not seek his harm : * Then shall the congregation judge between the slayer and the avenger of the blood according to these institutions ; * And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of the blood , and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge , whither he had fled ; and he shall abide in it until the death of the high –priest , who hath been anointed with the holy oil . * But if the manslayer should at any time pass the boundary of the city of his refuge , whither he may have fled ; * And the avenger of the blood should find him beyond the boundary of the city of his refuge , and the avenger of the blood should kill the manslayer : he shall not be guilty of blood ; * Because in the city of his refuge shall be remain until the death of the high –priest ; but after the death of the high –priest the manslayer may return unto the land of his possession . * And these things shall be unto you for a statute of justice throughout your generations , in all your dwellings . * Whoever it be that killeth a person , according to the testimony of witnesses shall the murderer be put to death ; but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die . * Moreover ye shall take no redemption money for the person of a murderer , who is guilty of death ; but he shall surely be put to death . * And ye shall take no redemption money for him that hath fled to the city of his refuge , that he should come again to dwell in the land , until the death of the priest . * And ye shall not defile the land wherein ye are ; for the blood it is which defileth the land : and no atonement can be made unto the land for the blood which hath been shed therein , except through the blood of him that hath shed it . * And ye shall not render unclean the land which ye inhabit , in the midst of which I dwell ; for I the Lord dwell in the midst of the children of Israel .

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