7. So you will give a total of 48 cities to the Levites. You will also give them the land around those cities.
8. The large tribes of Israel will get large pieces of land. The small tribes of Israel will get small pieces of land. So the large tribes will give more cities and the small tribes will give fewer cities to the Levites.”
9. Then the Lord said to Moses,
10. “Tell the people this: You will cross the Jordan River and go into the land of Canaan.
11. You must choose towns to be cities of safety. If someone accidentally kills another person, that person can run to one of those towns for safety.
12. That person will be safe from anyone from the dead man’s family who wants to punish the killer until that person is judged in court.
13. There will be six cities of safety.
14. Three of them will be east of the Jordan River and three of them will be in the land of Canaan, west of the Jordan River.
15. These cities will be places of safety for citizens of Israel and for foreigners and travelers. Any of these people will be able to run to one of these cities if they accidentally kill someone.
16. “If you use an iron weapon to kill someone, you are a murderer, and you must die.
17. If you use a rock large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die.
18. If you use a piece of wood large enough to kill someone and you kill another person, you are a murderer, and you must die.
19. A member of the dead person’s family can chase you and kill you.
20-21. “You might hit someone with your hand or push someone or throw something at them and kill them. If you did that from hate, you are a murderer, and you must be killed. A member of the dead person’s family can chase you and kill you.
22. “You might accidentally kill someone, maybe by pushing or by accidentally hitting them with a tool or weapon.
23. Perhaps you threw a rock that was large enough to kill, but it hit someone you didn’t see and killed them. You didn’t plan to kill anyone. You didn’t hate the person you killed—it was only an accident.