Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

(Joshua 21:1-45; 1 Chronicles 6:54-81)

1And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho, saying, 2Command the children of Israel, that of the inheritance of their possession they give unto the Levites cities to dwell in; and a suburb for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites. 3And the cities shall they have to dwell in, and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

4And the suburbs of the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites shall be from the walls of the city outward, a thousand cubits round about. 5And ye shall measure, without the city, the east side two thousand cubits, and the south side two thousand cubits, and the west side two thousand cubits, and the north side two thousand cubits, and the city shall be in the midst: they shall have this as suburbs of the cities.

Six Cities of Refuge

(Deuteronomy 4:41-43; Deuteronomy 19:1-14; Joshua 20:1-9)

6And [among] the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites [shall be] the six cities of refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither, -- and besides them ye shall give forty-two cities: 7all the cities that ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their suburbs. 8And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have much ye shall take much, and from them that have little ye shall take little; each one according to his inheritance which he will inherit shall give of his cities to the Levites.

9And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 10Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11then ye shall appoint for yourselves cities: cities of refuge shall they be for you; that a manslayer may flee thither, who without intent smiteth a person mortally. 12And ye shall have these cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the assembly in judgment. 13And the cities that ye shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you. 14Three cities shall ye give on this side of the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. 15For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them shall these six cities be a refuge, that one who smiteth a person mortally without intent may flee thither.

16And if he have smitten him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly be put to death. 17And if he have smitten him with a stone from the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly be put to death. 18Or if he have smitten him with an instrument of wood, in the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly be put to death; 19the avenger of blood, he shall put the murderer to death; when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death. 20And if he thrust at him out of hatred, or hurl at him intentionally, so that he die, 21or from enmity smite him with his hand, so that he die, he that smote him shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him. --

22But if he have thrust at him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything unintentionally, 23or [have smitten him] with any stone wherewith one may die, without seeing him, and have cast it upon him so that he die, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: 24then the assembly shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these judgments; 25and the assembly shall rescue the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly 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 was anointed with the holy oil. 26But if the manslayer shall in any way come outside the limits of the city of his refuge whither he hath fled, 27and the avenger of blood find him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer, there shall be no blood-guiltiness upon him; 28for the manslayer should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high-priest; but after the death of the high-priest he may return into the land of his possession.

29And this shall be unto you a statute of right throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

30Whoever shall smite a person mortally, at the mouth of witnesses shall the murderer be put to death; but one witness shall not testify against a person to cause him to die. 31And ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly be put to death. 32And ye shall take no satisfaction 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. 33And ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and there can be no atonement made for the land, for the blood that hath been shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it. 34And ye shall not defile the land that ye inhabit, in the midst whereof I dwell; for I am Jehovah who dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.