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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>Numbers 35 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/numbers/35.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/numbers/35-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">CEV</a> > Numbers 35</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../numbers/34.htm" title="Numbers 34">◄</a> Numbers 35 <a href="../numbers/36.htm" title="Numbers 36">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">The Towns for the Levites</h3><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_1"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.1" class="v4_35_1">1</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.35.1!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> While the people of Israel were still camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the <span class="nd">Lord</span> told Moses </span><span class="v4_35_2"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.2" class="v4_35_2">2</span>to say to them:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_2">When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe. </span><span class="v4_35_3"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.3" class="v4_35_3">3</span>That way, the Levites will have towns to live in and pastures for their animals. </span><span class="v4_35_4"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.4-Num.35.5" class="v4_35_4">4-5</span>The pasture around each of these towns must be in the shape of a square, with the town itself in the center. The pasture is to measure 900 meters on each side, with 450 meters of land outside each of the town walls. This will be the Levites' pastureland.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_6"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.6" class="v4_35_6">6</span>Six of the towns you give them will be Safe Towns where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. But you will also give the Levites 42 other towns, </span><span class="v4_35_7"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.7" class="v4_35_7">7</span>so they will have a total of 48 towns with their surrounding pastures.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_8"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.8" class="v4_35_8">8</span>Since the towns for the Levites must come from Israel's own tribal lands, the larger tribes will give more towns than the smaller ones.</span></p><h3 class="s1">The Safe Towns</h3><h5 class="r">(<ref loc="DEU 19:1-13">Deuteronomy 19.1-13</ref>; <ref loc="JOS 20:1-9">Joshua 20.1-9</ref>)</h5><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_9"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.9" class="v4_35_9">9</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.35.9!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> The <span class="nd">Lord</span> then told Moses </span><span class="v4_35_10"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.10" class="v4_35_10">10</span>to tell the people of Israel:</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_10">After you have crossed the Jordan River and are settled in Canaan, </span><span class="v4_35_11"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.11" class="v4_35_11">11</span>choose Safe Towns, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection. </span><span class="v4_35_12"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.12" class="v4_35_12">12</span>If the victim's relatives think it was murder, they might try to take revenge.<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.35.12!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> Anyone accused of murder can run to one of these Safe Towns for protection and not be killed before a trial is held.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_13"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.13" class="v4_35_13">13</span>There are to be six of these Safe Towns, </span><span class="v4_35_14"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.14" class="v4_35_14">14</span>three on each side of the Jordan River. </span><span class="v4_35_15"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.15" class="v4_35_15">15</span>They will be places of protection for anyone who lives in Israel and accidentally kills someone.</span></p><h3 class="s1">Laws about Murder and Accidental Killing</h3><h5 class="sp">The <span class="nd">Lord</span> said:</h5><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_16"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.16-Num.35.18" class="v4_35_16">16-18</span>Suppose you hit someone with a piece of iron or a large stone or a dangerous wooden tool. If that person dies, then you are a murderer and must be put to death </span><span class="v4_35_19"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.19" class="v4_35_19">19</span>by one of the victim's relatives. He will take revenge<a href="#fn" id="link_Num.35.19!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> for his relative's death as soon as he finds you.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_20"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.20-Num.35.21" class="v4_35_20">20-21</span>Or suppose you get angry and kill someone by pushing or hitting or by throwing something. You are a murderer and must be put to death by one of the victim's relatives.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_22"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.22-Num.35.24" class="v4_35_22">22-24</span>But if you are not angry and accidentally kill someone in any of these ways, the townspeople must hold a trial and decide if you are guilty. </span><span class="v4_35_25"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.25" class="v4_35_25">25</span>If they decide that you are innocent, you will be protected from the victim's relative and sent to stay in one of the Safe Towns until the high priest dies. </span><span class="v4_35_26"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.26" class="v4_35_26">26</span>But if you ever leave the Safe Town </span><span class="v4_35_27"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.27" class="v4_35_27">27</span>and are killed by the victim's relative, he cannot be punished for killing you. </span><span class="v4_35_28"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.28" class="v4_35_28">28</span>You must stay inside the town until the high priest dies; only then can you go back home.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_29"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.29" class="v4_35_29">29</span>The community of Israel must always obey these laws.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_30"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.30" class="v4_35_30">30</span><a href="#fn" id="link_Num.35.30!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> Death is the penalty for murder. But no one accused of murder can be put to death unless there are at least two witnesses to the crime. </span><span class="v4_35_31"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.31" class="v4_35_31">31</span>You cannot give someone money to escape the death penalty; you must pay with your own life! </span><span class="v4_35_32"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.32" class="v4_35_32">32</span>And if you have been proven innocent of murder and are living in a Safe Town, you cannot pay to go back home; you must stay there until the high priest dies.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v4_35_33"><span class="reftext" id="Num.35.33-Num.35.34" class="v4_35_33">33-34</span>I, the <span class="nd">Lord</span>, live among you people of Israel, so your land must be kept pure. But when a murder takes place, blood pollutes the land, and it becomes unclean. If that happens, the murderer must be put to death, so the land will be clean again. Keep murder out of Israel!</span></p> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">35.12 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the victim's relatives … revenge: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">At this time in Israel's history, the clan would appoint the closest male relative to find and kill a person who had killed a member of their clan.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">35.19 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">the victim's relatives … revenge: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">See the note at 35.12.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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