The Bible in Basic English BBE
Good News Translation GNT
1 And the Lord said to Moses in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho,
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In the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho the Lord said to Moses,
2 Give orders to the children of Israel to give to the Levites, from the heritage which is theirs, towns for themselves, with land on the outskirts of the towns.
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"Tell the Israelites that from the property they receive they must give the Levites some cities to live in and pasture land around the cities.
3 These towns are to be their living-places, with land round them for their cattle and their food and all their beasts,
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These cities will belong to the Levites, and they will live there. The pasture land will be for their cattle and all their other animals.
4 Stretching from the wall of the towns a distance of a thousand cubits all round.
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The pasture land is to extend outward from the city walls five hundred yards in each direction,
5 The measure of this space of land is to be two thousand cubits outside the town on the east, and two thousand cubits on the south and on the west and on the north, the town being in the middle. This space will be the outskirts of their towns.
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so that there is a square area measuring one thousand yards on each side, with the city in the middle.
6 And the towns which you give the Levites are to be the six safe places to which the taker of life may go in flight; and in addition you are to give them forty-two towns.
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You are to give the Levites six cities of refuge to which any of you can escape if you kill someone accidentally. In addition, give them forty-two other cities
7 Forty-eight towns are to be given to the Levites, all with land round them.
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with their pasture land, making a total of forty-eight.
8 And these towns are to be given out of the heritage of the children of Israel, taking the greater number from those who have much, and a smaller number from those who have little: everyone, in the measure of his heritage, is to give of his property to the Levites.
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The number of Levite cities in each tribe is to be determined according to the size of its territory."
9 And the Lord said to Moses,
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The Lord told Moses
10 Say to the children of Israel, when you have gone over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
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to say to the people of Israel: "When you cross the Jordan River and enter the land of Canaan,
11 Then let certain towns be marked out as safe places to which anyone who takes the life of another in error may go in flight.
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you are to choose cities of refuge to which any of you can escape if you kill someone accidentally.
12 In these towns you may be safe from him who has the right of punishment; so that death may not overtake the taker of life till he has been judged by the meeting of the people.
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There you will be safe from the dead person's relative who seeks revenge. No one accused of manslaughter is to be put to death without a public trial.
13 Six of the towns which you give will be such safe places;
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Choose six cities,
14 Three on the other side of Jordan and three in the land of Canaan, to be safe places for flight.
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three east of the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan.
15 For the children of Israel and for the man from another country who is living among them, these six towns are to be safe places, where anyone causing the death of another through error may go in flight.
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These will serve as cities of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners who are temporary or permanent residents. Anyone who kills someone accidentally can escape to one of them.
16 But if a man gives another man a blow with an iron instrument, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
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"If, however, any of you use a weapon of iron or stone or wood to kill someone, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death.
17 Or if he gives him a blow with a stone in his hand, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
18 Or if he gave him blows with a wood instrument in his hands, causing his death, he is a taker of life and is certainly to be put to death.
19 He whose right it is to give punishment for blood, may himself put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
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The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.
20 If in his hate he put a sword through him, or waiting secretly for him sent a spear or stone at him, causing his death;
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"If you hate someone and kill him by pushing him down or by throwing something at him
21 Or in hate gave him blows with his hand, causing death; he who gave the death-blow is to be put to death; he is a taker of life: he whose right it is to give punishment for blood may put to death the taker of life when he comes face to face with him.
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or by striking him with your fist, you are guilty of murder and are to be put to death. The dead person's nearest relative has the responsibility for putting the murderer to death. When he finds you, he is to kill you.
22 But if a man has given a wound to another suddenly and not in hate, or without design has sent something against him,
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"But suppose you accidentally kill someone you do not hate, whether by pushing him down or by throwing something at him.
23 Or has given him a blow with a stone, without seeing him, so causing his death, though he had nothing against him and no desire to do him evil:
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Or suppose that, without looking, you throw a stone that kills someone whom you did not intend to hurt and who was not your enemy.
24 Then let the meeting of the people be judge between the man responsible for the death and him who has the right of punishment for blood, acting by these rules:
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In such cases the community shall judge in your favor and not in favor of the dead person's relative who is seeking revenge.
25 And let the people keep the man responsible for the death safe from the hands of him who has the right of punishment for blood, and send him back to his safe town where he had gone in flight: there let him be till the death of the high priest who was marked with the holy oil.
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You are guilty only of manslaughter, and the community is to rescue you from the dead person's relative, and they are to return you to the city of refuge to which you had escaped. You must live there until the death of the man who is then High Priest.
26 But if ever he goes outside the walls of the safe town where he had gone in flight,
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If you leave the city of refuge to which you have escaped
27 And the giver of punishment, meeting him outside the walls of the town, puts him to death, he will not be responsible for his blood:
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and if the dead person's relative finds you and kills you, this act of revenge is not murder.
28 Because he had been ordered to keep inside the safe town till the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the taker of life may come back to the place of his heritage.
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Any of you guilty of manslaughter must remain in the city of refuge until the death of the High Priest, but after that you may return home.
29 These rules are to be your guide in judging through all your generations wherever you may be living.
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These rules apply to you and your descendants wherever you may live.
30 Anyone causing the death of another is himself to be put to death on the word of witnesses: but the word of one witness is not enough.
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"Those accused of murder may be found guilty and put to death only on the evidence of two or more witnesses; the evidence of one witness is not sufficient to support an accusation of murder.
31 Further, no price may be given for the life of one who has taken life and whose right reward is death: he is certainly to be put to death.
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Murderers must be put to death. They cannot escape this penalty by the payment of money.
32 And no price may be offered for one who has gone in flight to a safe town, for the purpose of letting him come back to his place before the death of the high priest.
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If they have fled to a city of refuge, do not allow them to make a payment in order to return home before the death of the High Priest.
33 So do not make the land where you are living unholy: for blood makes the land unholy: and there is no way of making the land free from the blood which has come on it, but only by the death of him who was the cause of it.
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If you did this, you would defile the land where you are living. Murder defiles the land, and except by the death of the murderer there is no way to perform the ritual of purification for the land where someone has been murdered.
34 Do not make unclean the land where you are living and in which is my House: for I the Lord am present among the children of Israel.
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Do not defile the land where you are living, because I am the Lord and I live among the people of Israel."
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.