Laws Concerning Cities of Refuge

Deuteronomy 19

1 "When the LORD your God a has cut off the nations whose land the LORD your God is giving you, and you dispossess them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, 2 b "you shall separate three cities for yourself in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess. 3 "You shall prepare roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the LORD your God is giving you to inherit, that any manslayer may flee there.

4 "And c this is the case of the manslayer who flees there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor 1 unintentionally, not having hated him in time past - 5 "as when a man goes to the woods with his neighbor to cut timber, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and strikes his neighbor so that he dies - he shall flee to one of these cities and live; 6 d "lest the avenger of blood, while his anger is hot, pursue the manslayer and overtake him, because the way is long, and kill him, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated the victim in time past. 7 "Therefore I command you, saying, 'You shall separate three cities for yourself.' 8 "Now if the LORD your God e enlarges your territory, as He swore to f your fathers, and gives you the land which He promised to give to your fathers, 9 "and if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God and to walk always in His ways, g then you shall add three more cities for yourself besides these three, 10 h "lest innocent blood be shed in the midst of your land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, and thus guilt of bloodshed be upon you.

11 "But i if anyone hates his neighbor, lies in wait for him, rises against him and strikes him mortally, so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, 12 "then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him over to the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. 13 j "Your eye shall not pity him, k but you shall 2 put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

  1. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:29
    When the LORD your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land.
  2. Cross References
    Exodus 21:13
    However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
    Numbers 35:10 - 15
    Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan.
    Deuteronomy 4:41
    Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun.
    Joshua 20:2
    Speak to the children of Israel, saying: 'Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses.
  3. Cross References
    Numbers 35:9 - 34
    Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying.
    Deuteronomy 4:42
    That the manslayer might flee there, who kills his neighbor unintentionally, without having hated him in time past, and that by fleeing to one of these cities he might live:
  4. Cross References
    Numbers 35:12
    They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.
  5. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 12:20
    When the LORD your God enlarges your border as He has promised you, and you say, 'Let me eat meat,' because you long to eat meat, you may eat as much meat as your heart desires.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 15:18 - 21
    On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates -
  7. Cross References
    Joshua 20:7 - 9
    So they appointed Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in the mountains of Judah.
  8. Cross References
    Numbers 35:33
    So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
    Deuteronomy 21:1 - 9
    If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him.
  9. Cross References
    Numbers 35:16
    But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
    Numbers 35:24
    Then the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments.
    Deuteronomy 27:24
    'Cursed is the one who attacks his neighbor secretly.' "And all the people shall say, 'Amen!'
    1 John 3:15
    Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
  10. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 13:8
    You shall not consent to him or listen to him, nor shall your eye pity him, nor shall you spare him or conceal him.
  11. Cross References
    Numbers 35:33
    So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
    Numbers 35:34
    'Therefore do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.'"
    1 Kings 2:31
    Then the king said to him, "Do as he has said, and strike him down and bury him, that you may take away from me and from the house of my father the innocent blood which Joab shed.
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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