1
In the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden, across from Yericho, ADONAI said to Moshe,
2
"Order the people of Isra'el to give to the L'vi'im cities to live in from the heritage they will possess, and you are also to give the L'vi'im some of the open land surrounding the cities.
3
They are to have the cities to live in, while their open land will be for their livestock, for growing crops and for all their animals.
4
The open land around the cities you give to the L'vi'im is to commence at a line drawn around the city wall 1,500 feet outside it and is to extend outward from there.
5
Measure 3,000 feet outward from the city wall to the east, south, west and north, with the city in the center. The space between the 1,500-foot line and the 3,000-foot line will be their open land around the cities.
6
The cities you give to the L'vi'im are to be the six cities of refuge to which you permit the person who kills someone to flee to; plus an additional forty-two cities.
7
Thus you will give the L'vi'im forty-eight cities, with their surrounding open land.
8
As to the cities you will give from those the people of Isra'el possess, from the many you will take many, and from the few you will take few - each tribe will contribute from its cities to the L'vi'im in accordance with the size of its inheritance."
10
"Tell the people of Isra'el, 'When you cross the Yarden into the land of Kena'an,