Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Revised Standard NRS
1 And the Lord spoke these things also to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, over against Jericho:
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In the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out of their possessions,
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Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance that they possess, towns for the Levites to live in; you shall also give to the Levites pasture lands surrounding the towns.
3 Cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about: that they may abide in the towns, and the suburbs may be for them cattle and beasts:
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The towns shall be theirs to live in, and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle, for their livestock, and for all their animals.
4 Which suburbs shall reach from the walls of the cities outward, a thousand paces on every side:
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The pasture lands of the towns, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the town outward a thousand cubits all around.
5 Toward the east shall be two thousand cubits: and toward the south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits: toward the sea also, which looketh to the west, shall be the same extent: and the north side shall be bounded with the like limits. And the cities shall be in the midst, and the suburbs without.
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You shall measure, outside the town, for the east side two thousand cubits, for the south side two thousand cubits, for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, with the town in the middle; this shall belong to them as pasture land for their towns.
6 And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood may flee to them: and besides these there shall be other forty-two cities,
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The towns that you give to the Levites shall include the six cities of refuge, where you shall permit a slayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two towns.
7 That is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.
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The towns that you give to the Levites shall total forty-eight, with their pasture lands.
8 And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be taken: and from them that have less, fewer. Each shall give towns to the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.
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And as for the towns that you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it obtains, shall give of its towns to the Levites.
9 The Lord said to Moses:
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The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
10 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: When you shall have passed over the Jordan into the land of Chanaan,
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Speak to the Israelites, and say to them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who have shed blood against their will.
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then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, so that a slayer who kills a person without intent may flee there.
12 And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the multitude, and his cause be judged.
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The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, so that the slayer may not die until there is a trial before the congregation.
13 And of those cities, that are separated for the refuge of fugitives,
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The cities that you designate shall be six cities of refuge for you:
14 Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three in the land of Chanaan,
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you shall designate three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge.
15 As well for the children of Israel as for strangers and sojourners, that he may flee to them, who hath shed blood against his will.
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These six cities shall serve as refuge for the Israelites, for the resident or transient alien among them, so that anyone who kills a person without intent may flee there.
16 If any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck: he shall be guilty of murder, and he himself shall die.
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But anyone who strikes another with an iron object, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
17 If he throw a stone, and he that is struck die: he shall be punished in the same manner.
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Or anyone who strikes another with a stone in hand that could cause death, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
18 If he that is struck with wood die: he shall be revenged by the blood of him that struck him.
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Or anyone who strikes another with a weapon of wood in hand that could cause death, and death ensues, is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death.
19 The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer: as soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.
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The avenger of blood is the one who shall put the murderer to death; when they meet, the avenger of blood shall execute the sentence.
20 If through hatred any one push a man, or fling any thing at him with ill design:
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Likewise, if someone pushes another from hatred, or hurls something at another, lying in wait, and death ensues,
21 Or being his enemy, strike him with his hand, and he die: the striker shall be guilty of murder: the kinsman of him that was slain as soon as he findeth him, shall kill him.
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or in enmity strikes another with the hand, and death ensues, then the one who struck the blow shall be put to death; that person is a murderer; the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when they meet.
22 But if by chance medley, and without hatred,
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But if someone pushes another suddenly without enmity, or hurls any object without lying in wait,
23 And enmity, he do any of these things,
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or, while handling any stone that could cause death, unintentionally drops it on another and death ensues, though they were not enemies, and no harm was intended,
24 And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:
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then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood, in accordance with these ordinances;
25 The innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the revenger, and shall be brought back by sentence into the city, to which he had fled, and he shall abide there until the death of the high priest, that is anointed with the holy oil.
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and the congregation shall rescue the slayer from the avenger of blood. Then the congregation shall send the slayer back to the original city of refuge. The slayer shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
26 If the murderer be found without the limits of the cities that are appointed for the banished,
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But if the slayer shall at any time go outside the bounds of the original city of refuge,
27 And be struck by him that is the avenger of blood: he shall not be guilty that killed him.
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and is found by the avenger of blood outside the bounds of the city of refuge, and is killed by the avenger, no bloodguilt shall be incurred.
28 For the fugitive ought to have stayed in the city until the death of the high priest: and after he is dead, then shall the manslayer return to his own country.
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For the slayer must remain in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; but after the death of the high priest the slayer may return home.
29 These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance in all your dwellings.
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These things shall be a statute and ordinance for you throughout your generations wherever you live.
30 The murderer shall be punished by witnesses: none shall be condemned upon the evidence of one man.
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If anyone kills another, the murderer shall be put to death on the evidence of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of a single witness.
31 You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he shall die forthwith.
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Moreover you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer who is subject to the death penalty; a murderer must be put to death.
32 The banished and fugitives before the death of the high priest may by no means return into their own cities.
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Nor shall you accept ransom for one who has fled to a city of refuge, enabling the fugitive to return to live in the land before the death of the high priest.
33 Defile not the land of your habitation, which is stained with the blood of the innocent: neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by his blood that hath shed the blood of another.
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You shall not pollute the land in which you live; for blood pollutes the land, and no expiation can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
34 And thus shall your possession be cleansed, myself abiding with you. For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.
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You shall not defile the land in which you live, in which I also dwell; for I the Lord dwell among the Israelites.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.