1. While the people of Israel were still camped in the lowlands of Moab across the River Jordan from Jericho, the Lord told Moses
2. to say to them:When you receive your tribal lands, you must give towns and pastures to the Levi tribe.
3. That way, the Levites will have towns to live in and pastures for their animals.
4-5. The pasture around each of these towns must be in the shape of a square, with the town itself in the centre. The pasture is to measure nine hundred metres on each side, with four hundred and fifty metres of land outside each of the town walls. This will be the Levites' pasture land.
6. 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 forty-two other towns,
7. so they will have a total of forty-eight towns with their surrounding pastures.
8. 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.
9. The Lord then told Moses
10. to tell the people of Israel:After you have crossed the River Jordan and are settled in Canaan,
11. choose Safe Towns, where a person who has accidentally killed someone can run for protection.
12. If the victim's relatives think it was murder, they might try to take revenge. Anyone accused of murder can run to one of these Safe Towns for protection and not be killed before a trial is held.
13. There are to be six of these Safe Towns,