26. But if the killer ever goes outside the boundaries of the refuge city where he fled
27. and the close relative finds him outside the boundary of his refuge city and kills him, he will not be responsible for his blood.
28. The killer must live in his refuge city until the high priest’s death. After the high priest’s death the killer may return to the land he owns.
29. These will be the regulations and case laws for all time in all your settlements.
30. Anyone who kills another will be executed on the evidence of witnesses. But one witness alone cannot testify against a person for a death sentence.
31. You may not accept a ransom for the life of a killer, who is guilty of a capital crime, for he must definitely be put to death.
32. You may not accept a ransom for someone who has fled to his refuge city so that he can return and live in the land before the priest’s death.
33. You may not pollute the land in which you live, for the blood pollutes the land. There can be no recovery for the land from the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
34. You will not make the land in which you live unclean, the land in the middle of which I reside, for I the Lord reside among the Israelites.