Numbers 35:6-34: And among the cities which ye shall
give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye
shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither: and to them
ye shall add forty and two cities. So all the cities which ye shall give
to the Levites shall be forty and eight cities: them shall ye give with
their suburbs. And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the
possession of the children of Israel: from them that have many ye shall
give many; but from them that have few ye shall give few: every one
shall give of his cities unto the Levites according to his inheritance
which he inheriteth.
And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,
When ye be come over Jordan into the land of Canaan; Then ye shall
appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may
flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares. And they shall be
unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not,
until he stand before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities
which ye shall give six cities shall ye have for refuge. Ye shall give
three cities on this side Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the
land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall
be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and
for the sojourner among them: that every one that killeth any person
unawares may flee thither. And if he smite 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 smite him with throwing a stone, wherewith he may
die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to
death. Or if he smite him with an hand weapon of wood, wherewith he may
die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to
death. The revenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he
meeteth him, he shall slay him. But if he thrust him of hatred, or hurl
at him by laying of wait, that he die; Or in enmity smite him with his
hand, that he die: he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for
he is a murderer: the revenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he
meeteth him. But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or have cast
upon him any thing without laying of wait, Or with any stone, wherewith
a man may die, seeing him not, and cast it upon him, that he die, and
was not his enemy, neither sought his harm: Then the congregation shall
judge between the slayer and the revenger of blood according to these
judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand
of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the
city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto
the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But
if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of
his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him
without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood
kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have
remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest:
but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the
land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of
judgment unto you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the
mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person
to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life
of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to
death. And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that is fled to the
city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land,
until the death of the priest. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein
ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed
of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
Defile not therefore the land which ye shall inhabit, wherein I dwell:
for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
Deuteronomy 19:1-13: When the LORD thy God hath
cut off the nations, whose land the LORD thy God giveth thee, and thou
succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses; Thou
shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the
LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it. Thou shalt prepare thee a way,
and divide the coasts of thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee to
inherit, into three parts, that every slayer may flee thither. And this
is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live:
Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past;
As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and
his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the
head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he
die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: Lest the avenger
of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake
him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of
death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. Wherefore I command
thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the LORD
thy God enlarge thy coast, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers, and give
thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers; If thou
shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this
day, to love the LORD thy God, and to walk ever in his ways; then shalt
thou add three cities more for thee, beside these three: That innocent
blood be not shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an
inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. But if any man hate his
neighbour, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and smite
him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities: Then the
elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into
the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Thine eye shall not
pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from
Israel, that it may go well with thee.