| 35:1 | Then GOD spoke to Moses on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho: |
| 35:2 | "Command the People of Israel to give the Levites as their part of the total inheritance towns to live in. Make sure there is plenty of pasture around the towns. |
| 35:3 | Then they will be well taken care of with towns to live in and pastures for their cattle, flocks, and other livestock. |
| 35:4 | "The pasture surrounding the Levites' towns is to extend 1,500 feet in each direction from the city wall. |
| 35:5 | The outside borders of the pasture are to measure three thousand feet on each of the four sides--east, south, west, and north--with the town at the center. Each city will be supplied with pasture. |
| 35:6 | "Six of these towns that you give the Levites will be asylum-cities to which anyone who accidentally kills another person may flee for asylum. In addition, you will give them forty-two other towns-- |
| 35:7 | forty-eight towns in all, together with their pastures. |
| 35:8 | The towns that you give the Levites from the common inheritance of the People of Israel are to be taken in proportion to the size of each tribe--many towns from a tribe that has many, few from a tribe that has few." |
| 35:9 | GOD spoke to Moses: |
| 35:10 | "Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, When you cross the River Jordan into the country of Canaan, |
| 35:11 | designate your asylum-cities, towns to which a person who accidentally kills someone can flee for asylum. |
| 35:12 | They will be places of refuge from the avenger so that the alleged murderer won't be killed until he can appear before the community in court. |
| 35:13 | Provide six asylum-cities. |
| 35:14 | Designate three of the towns to the east side of the Jordan, the other three in Canaan proper--asylum-cities |
| 35:15 | for the People of Israel, for the foreigner, and for any occasional visitors or guests--six asylum-cities to run to for anyone who accidentally kills another. |
| 35:16 | "But if the killer has used an iron object, that's just plain murder; he's obviously a murderer and must be put to death. |
| 35:17 | "Or if he has a rock in his hand big enough to kill and the man dies, that's murder; he's a murderer and must be put to death. |
| 35:18 | "Or if he's carrying a wooden club heavy enough to kill and the man dies, that's murder; he's a murderer and must be put to death. |
| 35:19 | "In such cases the avenger has a right to kill the murderer when he meets him--he can kill him on the spot. |
| 35:20 | "And if out of sheer hatred a man pushes another or from ambush throws something at him and he dies, |
| 35:21 | or angrily hits him with his fist and kills him, that's murder--he must be put to death. The avenger has a right to kill him when he gets him. |
| 35:22 | "If, however, he impulsively pushes someone and there is no history of hard feelings, or he impetuously picks up something and throws it, |
| 35:23 | or he accidentally drops a stone tool--a maul or hammer, say--and it hits and kills someone he didn't even know was there, and there's no suspicion that there was bad blood between them, |
| 35:24 | the community is to judge between the killer and the avenger following these guidelines. |
| 35:25 | It's the task of the community to save the killer from the hand of the avenger--the community is to return him to his asylum-city to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the High Priest who was anointed with the holy oil. |
| 35:26 | But if the murderer leaves the asylum-city to which he has fled, |
| 35:27 | and the avenger finds him outside the borders of his asylum-city, the avenger has a right to kill the murderer. And he's not considered guilty of murder. |
| 35:28 | "So it's important that he stay in his asylum-city until the death of the High Priest. After the death of the High Priest he is free to return to his own place. |
| 35:29 | "These are the procedures for making judgments from now on, wherever you live. |
| 35:30 | "Anyone who kills another may be executed only on the testimony of eyewitnesses. But no one can be executed on the testimony of only one witness. |
| 35:31 | "Don't accept bribe money in exchange for the life of a murderer. He's guilty and deserves the death penalty. Put him to death. |
| 35:32 | "And don't accept bribe money for anyone who has fled to an asylum-city so as to permit him to go back and live in his own place before the death of the High Priest. |
| 35:33 | "Don't pollute the land in which you live. Murder pollutes the land. The land can't be cleaned up of the blood of murder except through the blood of the murderer. |
| 35:34 | "Don't desecrate the land in which you live. I live here too--I, GOD, live in the same neighborhood with the People of Israel." |
Numbers 35 - The Message Bible
