Numbers 35:1-8

Modern English Version

The Levites’ Cities^(A)

35 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying: ² Command the children of Israel, and they will give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in, and you will give the Levites pasturelands around the city. ³ The cities will be for them to dwell in, and their pasturelands will be for their livestock, and for their property, and for all their animals.

⁴ The pasturelands of the cities, which you will give to the Levites, will reach from the wall of the city and beyond one thousand cubits^[a] all around. ⁵ You will measure from without the city on the east side two thousand cubits,^[b] and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, and the city will be in the middle. This will be for them the pasturelands of the cities.

Cities of Refuge

⁶ Among the cities which you will give to the Levites there will be six cities of refuge, which you will appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee there, and to them you will add forty-two cities. ⁷ So all the cities which you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities. You will give them with their pasturelands. ⁸ The cities which you shall give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel. From the larger tribes you shall give many, and from the smaller tribes you shall give few. Each tribe, in proportion to the inheritance that it receives, shall give of its cities to the Levites.