1And YHWH spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying:
2Command (tzivvah) the children of Israel, that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and open land round about the cities you shall give to the Levites.
3And the cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their open lands shall be for their cattle and for their goods and for all their beasts (chai).
4And the open lands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward a thousand cubits round about.
5And you shall measure outside 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, with the city in the middle. This shall be to them the open lands of the cities.
6And the cities which you shall give to the Levites: the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the slayer to flee there; and beside them you shall give forty-two cities.
7All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, them and their open lands.
8And the cities which you shall give from the possession of the children of Israel: from the many you shall give many, and from the few you shall give few; each man (ish) according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.
9And YHWH spoke to Moses, saying:
10Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11Then you shall appoint for yourselves cities; cities of refuge they shall be for you, that a slayer who smites a soul (nephesh) by error may flee there.
12And the cities shall be for you for refuge from the redeemer, that the slayer die not until he stands before the congregation for judgment (mishpat).
13And the cities which you shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you.
14Three cities you shall give beyond the Jordan, and three cities you shall give in the land of Canaan; cities of refuge they shall be.
15For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the settler among them, these six cities shall be for refuge, that everyone who smites a soul (nephesh) by error may flee there.
16And if he smote him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a slayer; the slayer shall surely be put to death.
17And if he smote him with a stone of the hand, by which one may die, and he died, he is a slayer; the slayer shall surely be put to death.
18Or if he smote him with a weapon of wood of the hand, by which one may die, and he died, he is a slayer; the slayer shall surely be put to death.
19The redeemer of blood, he shall put the slayer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
20And if he thrust him in hatred, or hurled at him by lying in wait, so that he died,
21Or in enmity smote him with his hand, so that he died; the smiter shall surely be put to death; he is a slayer; the redeemer of blood shall put the slayer to death when he meets him.
22But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled upon him any vessel without lying in wait,
23Or with any stone by which one may die, without seeing him, and cast it upon him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, and did not seek his harm;
24Then the congregation shall judge between the smiter and the redeemer of blood according to these judgments (mishpat);
25And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled; and he shall dwell in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26But if the slayer at all goes out beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he had fled,
27And the redeemer of blood finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the redeemer of blood slays the slayer, there is no blood for him.
28For in his city of refuge he should dwell until the death of the high priest; and after the death of the high priest the slayer may return to the land of his possession.
29And these shall be for you for a statute (chuqqah) of judgment (mishpat) throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30Whoever smites a soul (nephesh), at the mouth of witnesses shall the slayer be slain; but one witness shall not testify against a soul (nephesh) to die.
31And you shall take no ransom for the soul (nephesh) of a slayer who is wicked, to die; for he shall surely be put to death.
32And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, to return to dwell in the land until the death of the priest.
33And you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood, it pollutes the land, and for the land no atonement can be made for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
34And you shall not defile the land in which you dwell, in the midst of which I dwell; for I, YHWH, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.