民35:15These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

民35:16'If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

民35:17Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

民35:18Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.

民35:19The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death.

民35:20If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies

民35:21or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

民35:22'But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally

民35:23or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him,

民35:24the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations.

民35:25The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

民35:26'But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled

民35:27and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder.

民35:28The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.

民35:29'These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.

民35:30'Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

民35:31'Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.

民35:32'Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

民35:33'Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

民35:34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the Lord , dwell among the Israelites.' "