Font Size
Numbers 35-36
Darby Translation
Numbers 35-36
Darby Translation
35 And Jehovah spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan of Jericho, saying,
2 Command 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.
3 And 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.
4 And 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.
5 And 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.
6 And [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:
7 all the cities that ye shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, they and their suburbs.
8 And 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.
9 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 then 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.
12 And ye shall have these cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he have stood before the assembly in judgment.
13 And the cities that ye shall give shall be six cities of refuge for you.
14 Three 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.
15 For 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.
16 And if he have smitten him with an instrument of iron, so that he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
17 And if he have smitten him with a stone from the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly be put to death.
18 Or if he have smitten him with an instrument of wood, in the hand, wherewith one may die, and he die, he is a murderer: the murderer shall certainly be put to death;
19 the avenger of blood, he shall put the murderer to death; when he meeteth him, he shall put him to death.
20 And if he thrust at him out of hatred, or hurl at him intentionally, so that he die,
21 or from enmity smite him with his hand, so that he die, he that smote him shall certainly be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meeteth him.—
22 But if he have thrust at him suddenly without enmity, or have cast upon him anything unintentionally,
23 or [have smitten him] with any stone wherewith one may die, without seeing him, and have cast it upon him so that he die, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm:
24 then the assembly shall judge between the smiter and the avenger of blood according to these judgments;
25 and the assembly shall rescue the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he had fled; and he shall abide in it until the death of the high-priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 But if the manslayer shall in any way come outside the limits of the city of his refuge whither he hath fled,
27 and the avenger of blood find him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer, there shall be no blood-guiltiness upon him;
28 for the manslayer should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high-priest; but after the death of the high-priest he may return into the land of his possession.
29 And this shall be unto you a statute of right throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
30 Whoever shall smite a person mortally, at the mouth of witnesses shall the murderer be put to death; but one witness shall not testify against a person to cause him to die.
31 And ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall certainly be put to death.
32 And ye shall take no satisfaction for him that hath fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
33 And ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are; for blood, it polluteth the land; and there can be no atonement made for the land, for the blood that hath been shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
34 And ye shall not defile the land that ye inhabit, in the midst whereof I dwell; for I am Jehovah who dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.
36 And the chief fathers of families of the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel:
2 and they said, Jehovah commanded my lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel; and my lord was commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
3 Now if they be married to any of the sons of the [other] tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and shall be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong; and it shall be taken from the lot of our inheritance.
4 And when the jubilee of the children of Israel shall come, then shall their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong; and their inheritance shall be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
5 And Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Jehovah, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph hath said well.
6 This is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them marry whom they please; only they shall marry one of the tribe of their father,
7 that no inheritance of the children of Israel pass from tribe to tribe; for every one of the children of Israel shall keep to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
8 And every daughter that possesseth an inheritance among the tribes of the children of Israel, shall be married to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every one the inheritance of his fathers,
9 and the inheritance shall not pass from one tribe to another tribe; for each of the tribes of the children of Israel shall keep to his inheritance.
10 Even as Jehovah had commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad;
11 and Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married unto their uncles' sons.
12 To those that were of the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph were they married; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Jehovah commanded through Moses to the children of Israel, in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan of Jericho.
Numbers 35-36
New International Version
Numbers 35-36
New International Version
Towns for the Levites
35 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho,(A) the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in(B) from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands(C) around the towns. 3 Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals.(D)
4 “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits[a] from the town wall. 5 Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits[b](E) on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west and two thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.(F)
Cities of Refuge(G)
6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee.(H) In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 7 In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. 8 The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”(I)
9 Then the Lord said to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,(J) 11 select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone(K) accidentally(L) may flee. 12 They will be places of refuge from the avenger,(M) so that anyone accused of murder(N) may not die before they stand trial before the assembly.(O) 13 These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.(P) 14 Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. 15 These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
16 “‘If anyone strikes someone a fatal blow with an iron object, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death.(Q) 17 Or if anyone is holding a stone and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. 18 Or if anyone is holding a wooden object and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood(R) shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death.(S) 20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally(T) so that they die 21 or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death;(U) that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood(V) shall put the murderer to death when they meet.
22 “‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally(W) 23 or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended, 24 the assembly(X) must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. 25 The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest,(Y) who was anointed(Z) with the holy oil.(AA)
26 “‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled 27 and the avenger of blood finds them outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. 28 The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.
29 “‘This is to have the force of law(AB) for you throughout the generations to come,(AC) wherever you live.(AD)
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.(AE)
31 “‘Do not accept a ransom(AF) for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.
32 “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.
33 “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land,(AG) and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. 34 Do not defile the land(AH) where you live and where I dwell,(AI) for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’”
Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters(AJ)
36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead(AK) son of Makir,(AL) the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph,(AM) came and spoke before Moses and the leaders,(AN) the heads of the Israelite families. 2 They said, “When the Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot,(AO) he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad(AP) to his daughters. 3 Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. 4 When the Year of Jubilee(AQ) for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our ancestors.”
5 Then at the Lord’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. 7 No inheritance(AR) in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan,(AS) so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9 No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”
10 So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah(AT)—married their cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s tribe and clan.(AU)
13 These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses(AV) to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.(AW)
Footnotes
- Numbers 35:4 That is, about 1,500 feet or about 450 meters
- Numbers 35:5 That is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters
Darby Translation (DARBY)
Public Domain (Why are modern Bible translations copyrighted?)
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.