Numbers 35:16-34

16Murderers are different. You must kill a murderer. Maybe someone hits another person with a heavy iron tool. If the person dies, the murderer must also die.

17Someone might hit another person with a big stone. If the person dies, the man is a murderer. He must die.

18A man might hit a person with a dangerous weapon made from wood. If the person dies, the man is a murderer. He must die.

19The dead person's relative himself must kill the murderer when he meets him.

20These are other examples of murder: A man might push another person hard because he hates him. A man might throw something at another person to hurt him.

21Or a man might hit someone with his hand because he hates him. If the person dies as a result, you must kill the murderer. The dead person's relative must kill the murderer when he meets him.

22But when a man kills another person, it might be a mistake. For example, he might push someone very hard, or he might throw something at another person. If he did not hate the other person, then it might be a mistake.

23Or he might drop a heavy stone on someone when he had not seen them. If he did not hate the other person, perhaps he did not mean to hurt him.

24If that happens, the people must judge who is right. They must choose between the killer and the dead person's relative. They must use those rules to decide if the man is a murderer.

25If the man is a killer but not a murderer, the people must keep him safe from the dead person's relative. They must send him back to the safe city that he ran to. He will live there safely until the death of the leader of God's priests.

26But one day, the killer might go outside the border of the safe city that he ran to.

27If he does that, the dead person's relative might find him outside the safe city. Then, if the dead person's relative kills him, the relative will not be guilty of murder.

28That is because the killer should have stayed in his safe city until the death of the leader of the priests. But after the leader of the priests dies, the killer may return to his own home.

29Wherever you and your descendants live, these are the rules that you must obey for all future time.

30Before you kill a murderer, people must agree that they saw him kill someone. But if only one person saw what happened, that is not enough for you to kill him.

31You must not accept money to pay for the life of a murderer. If he is guilty of murder, you must kill him.

32Also, you must not accept money from a killer who has run to a safe city. You must not let him return to his own home until the leader of the priests has died.

33Murder causes the land where you live to become unclean. You have to make it clean again. You must kill anyone who murders another person. That is the only way to make the land clean again.

34You must not make the land where you live become unclean. It is the land where I also live. That is because I, the Lord, live among the Israelites.’