Numbers 35:1-15

1And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho, saying,

2Command the children of Israel, that of the inheritance of their possession they give unto the Levites cities to dwell in; and a suburb for the cities round about them shall ye give unto the Levites.

3And the cities shall they have to dwell in, and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their goods, and for all their beasts.

4And the suburbs of the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites shall be from the walls of the city outward, a thousand cubits round about.

5And ye shall measure, without the city, the east side two thousand cubits, and the south side two thousand cubits, and the west side two thousand cubits, and the north side two thousand cubits, and the city shall be in the midst: they shall have this as suburbs of the cities.

6And [among] the cities that ye shall give unto the Levites [shall be] the six cities of refuge, which ye shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee thither, — and besides them ye shall give forty-two cities:

7all the cities that ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their suburbs.

8And the cities which ye shall give shall be of the possession of the children of Israel: from them that have much ye shall take much, and from them that have little ye shall take little; each one according to his inheritance which he will inherit shall give of his cities to the Levites.

9And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,

10Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

11then ye shall appoint for yourselves cities: cities of refuge shall they be for you; that a manslayer may flee thither, who without intent smiteth a person mortally.

12And ye shall have these cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the assembly in judgment.

13And the cities that ye shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you.

14Three cities shall ye give on this side of the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.

15For the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them shall these six cities be a refuge, that one who smiteth a person mortally without intent may flee thither.