Cities for the Levites

35 In the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance that they possess, towns for the Levites to live in; you shall also give to the Levites pasturelands surrounding the towns.^{(A) 3} The towns shall be theirs to live in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle, for their livestock, and for all their animals.

Cities of Refuge

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, so that a slayer who kills a person without intent may flee there.^{(A) 12} The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the slayer may not die until there is a trial before the congregation.^(B)

¹³ “The cities that you designate shall be six cities of refuge for you: ¹⁴ you shall designate three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall serve as refuge for the Israelites, for the resident or transient alien among them, so that anyone who kills a person without intent may flee there.^(C)

³⁰ “If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses, but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness.^{(A) 31} Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death penalty; a murderer must be put to death. ³² Nor shall you accept ransom for one who has fled to a city of refuge, enabling the fugitive to return to live in the land before the death of the high priest. ³³ You shall not 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 the one who shed it.^{(B) 34} You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell, for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites.”^(C)