10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the ^yavenger, that the manslayer may not die until he ^zstands before the congregation for judgment.

2 you shall set apart ^ythree cities for yourselves in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess. 3 You shall measure the distances¹ and divide into three parts the area of the land that the Lord your God gives you as a possession, so that any manslayer can flee to them.

4 “This is the provision for the manslayer, who by fleeing there may save his life. If anyone kills his neighbor ^zunintentionally without having hated him in the past—

2 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the ^hcities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who strikes any person ⁱwithout intent or ^junknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the ^kavenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. 6 And he shall remain in that city until he has ^lstood before the congregation for judgment, ^muntil the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”