Numbers 35 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Cities for the Levites

Num 35:1The LORD said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho,

Num 35:2"Command the people of Israel, that they give to the Levites, from the inheritance of their possession, cities to dwell in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands round about the cities.

Num 35:3

Num 35:3The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts.

Num 35:4

Num 35:4The pasture lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits all round.

Num 35:5

Num 35:5And you shall measure, outside the city, for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle; this shall belong to them as pasture land for their cities.

Cities of Refuge

Num 35:6

Num 35:6The cities which 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.

Num 35:7

Num 35:7All the cities which you give to the Levites shall be forty-eight, with their pasture lands.

Num 35:8

Num 35:8And as for the cities which 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 which it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites."

(Deu 19:1–13; Jos 20:1–9 )

Num 35:9

Num 35:9And the LORD said to Moses,

Num 35:10

Num 35:10"Say to the people of Israel, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

Num 35:11

Num 35:11then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there.

Num 35:12

Num 35:12The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

Num 35:13

Num 35:13And the cities which you give shall be your six cities of refuge.

Num 35:14

Num 35:14You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.

Num 35:15

Num 35:15These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that any one who kills any person without intent may flee there.

Num 35:16

Num 35:16"But if he struck him down with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

Num 35:17

Num 35:17And if he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

Num 35:18

Num 35:18Or if he struck him down with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

Num 35:19

Num 35:19The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

Num 35:20

Num 35:20And if he stabbed him from hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,

Num 35:21

Num 35:21or 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.

Num 35:22

Num 35:22"But if he stabbed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him without lying in wait,

Num 35:23

Num 35:23or used a stone, by which a man may die, and without seeing him cast it upon him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm;

Num 35:24

Num 35:24then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances;

Num 35:25

Num 35:25and 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.

Num 35:26

Num 35:26But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the bounds of his city of refuge to which he fled,

Num 35:27

Num 35:27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the bounds of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood slays the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood.

Num 35:28

Num 35:28For the man 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.

Num 35:29

Num 35:29"And these things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

Num 35:30

Num 35:30If any one 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.

Num 35:31

Num 35:31Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death; but he shall be put to death.

Num 35:32

Num 35:32And 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.

Num 35:33

Num 35:33You shall not thus pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.

Num 35:34

Num 35:34You 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."

Downloaded from the Oxford Text Archive and used with permission. The following header is required to be posted:

Source: Transcribed from: The Holy Bible: Revised Standard Version containing the Old and New Testaments, translated from the original tongues: being the version set forth A.D. 1611, revised A.D. 1881-1885 and A.D. 1901: compared with the most ancient authorities and revised A.D. 1946-52. — 2nd ed. of New Testament A.D. 1971. There should be enough in the rest of the description to identify the text.

Language: English

Availability: Freely available for non-commercial use provided that this header is included in its entirety with any copy distributed.

Pericope

Numbers Chapter 35 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras

Numbers 35 :: Revised Standard Version (RSV)

Cities for the Levites

Cities of Refuge

Pericope

Numbers Chapter 35 — Additional Translations:

Did You Know BLB Is User Supported?