Six Cities of Refuge

The LORD tells Moses to appoint six cities of refuge, divided on both sides of the Jordan, where anyone who kills unintentionally may flee. These cities protect the manslayer from immediate vengeance until he stands before the assembly, and they are open to both Israelites and strangers.

T⁹hen the LORD said to Moses, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there. ¹²You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. ¹³The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge. ¹⁵These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

The law then names clear cases of murder: killing with a deadly iron, stone, or wooden object, or acting with malice, intent, or hostility. In such cases the killer is a murderer, and the avenger of blood may put him to death.

¹⁶If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. ¹⁷Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. ¹⁸If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death. ¹⁹The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him. ²⁰Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him, ²¹or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.

By contrast, if a death comes without hostility or intent, the congregation must judge the matter between the slayer and the avenger. The assembly is to protect the manslayer and return him to the city of refuge, where he must remain until the death of the high priest.

²²But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally, ²³or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him, ²⁴then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. ²⁵The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

The manslayer's safety lasts only within the city of refuge. If he leaves before the high priest dies, the avenger may kill him without bloodguilt, but after the high priest's death he may return to his own land; this rule is permanent for future generations.

²⁶But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled ²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed, ²⁸because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns. ²⁹This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.

Capital cases require multiple witnesses, and no ransom may substitute either for a murderer's life or for the manslayer's term in refuge. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and because the LORD dwells among Israel, the land must not be defiled.

³⁰If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness. ³¹You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death. ³²Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest. ³³Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”