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And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses , in the plains of Moab , by Jordan , [near] Jericho , saying,
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`Command the sons of Israel , and they have given to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to inhabit ; also a suburb for the cities round about them ye do give to the Levites.
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And the cities have been to them to inhabit , and their suburbs are for their cattle, and for their goods , and for all their beasts .
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`And the suburbs of the cities which ye give to the Levites [are], from the wall of the city and without, a thousand cubits round about .
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And ye have measured from the outside of the city , the east quarter , two thousand by the cubit, and the south quarter , two thousand by the cubit, and the west quarter , two thousand by the cubit, and the north quarter , two thousand by the cubit; and the city [is] in the midst ; this is to them the suburbs of the cities .
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`And the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] the six cities of refuge , which ye give for the fleeing thither of the man-slayer, and besides them ye give forty and two cities ;
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all the cities which ye give to the Levites [are] forty and eight cities , them and their suburbs.
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And the cities which ye give [are] of the possession of the sons of Israel , from the many ye multiply , and from the few ye diminish; each, according to his inheritance which they inherit , doth give of his cities to the Levites.'
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And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses , saying,
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`Speak unto the sons of Israel , and thou hast said unto them, When ye are passing over the Jordan to the land of Canaan ,
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and have prepared to yourselves cities -- cities of refuge they are to you -- then fled thither hath a man-slayer, smiting a person unawares,
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and the cities have been to you for a refuge from the redeemer , and the man-slayer doth not die till his standing before the company for judgment .
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`As to the cities which ye give -- six [are] cities of refuge to you;
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the three of the cities ye give beyond the Jordan , and the three of the cities ye give in the land of Canaan ; cities of refuge they are.
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To sons of Israel , and to a sojourner , and to a settler in their midst , are these six cities for a refuge , for the fleeing thither of any one smiting a person unawares.
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`And if with an instrument of iron he hath smitten him, and he dieth , he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
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`And if with a stone [in] the hand , wherewith he dieth , he hath smitten him, and he dieth , he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
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`Or with a wooden instrument [in] the hand , wherewith he dieth , he hath smitten him, and he dieth , he [is] a murderer: the murderer is certainly put to death.
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`The redeemer of blood himself doth put the murderer to death; in his coming against him he doth put him to death.
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`And if in hatred he thrust him through, or hath cast [anything] at him by lying in wait, and he dieth ;
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or in enmity he hath smitten him with his hand , and he dieth ; the smiter is certainly put to death; he [is] a murderer; the redeemer of blood doth put the murderer to death in his coming against him.
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`And if, in an instant, without enmity, he hath thrust him through, or hath cast at him any instrument, without lying in wait;
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or with any stone wherewith he dieth , without seeing , and causeth [it] to fall upon him, and he dieth , and he [is] not his enemy , nor seeking his evil ;
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then have the company judged between the smiter and the redeemer of blood , by these judgments .
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`And the company have delivered the man-slayer out of the hand of the redeemer of blood , and the company have caused him to turn back unto the city of his refuge , whither he hath fled , and he hath dwelt in it till the death of the chief priest, who hath been anointed with the holy oil .
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`And if the man-slayer at all go out [from] the border of the city of his refuge whither he fleeth ,
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and the redeemer of blood hath found him at the outside of the border of the city of his refuge , and the redeemer of blood hath slain the man-slayer, blood is not for him;
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for in the city of his refuge he doth dwell till the death of the chief priest; and after the death of the chief priest doth the man-slayer turn back unto the city of his possession.
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`And these things have been to you for a statute of judgment to your generations , in all your dwellings :
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whoso smiteth a person, by the mouth of witnesses doth [one ] slay the murderer; and one witness doth not testify against a person -- to die .
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`And ye take no atonement for the life of a murderer who [is] condemned -- to die , for he is certainly put to death;
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and ye take no atonement for him to flee unto the city of his refuge , to turn back to dwell in the land , until the death of the priest.
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`And ye profane not the land which ye [are] in, for blood profaneth the land ; as to the land , it is not pardoned for blood which is shed in it except by the blood of him who sheddeth it;
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and ye defile not the land in which ye are dwelling , in the midst of which I do tabernacle , for I Jehovah do tabernacle in the midst of the sons of Israel .'