Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

¹Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:

²“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

³The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.

⁴The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubitsfrom the wall on every side.

⁵You are also to measure two thousand cubitsoutside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.

⁶Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.

⁷The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands.

⁸The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”

Six Cities of Refuge

⁹Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

¹¹designate cities to serve as your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

¹²You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.

¹³The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge.

¹⁴Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.

¹⁵These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

¹⁷Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

¹⁸If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.

¹⁹The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.

²⁰Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,

²¹or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.

²²But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,

²³or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,

²⁴then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.

²⁵The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled

²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed,

²⁸because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns.

²⁹This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.

³⁰If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.

³¹You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.

³²Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

³³Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

³⁴Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”

Moab Seduces Israel

¹While Israel was staying in Shittim,the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,

²who also invited them to the sacrifices for their gods. And the people ate and bowed down to these gods.

³So Israel joined in worshiping Baal of Peor, and the anger of the LORD burned against them.

⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the LORD, so that His fierce anger may turn away from Israel.”

⁵So Moses told the judges of Israel, “Each of you must kill all of his men who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor.”

The Zeal of Phinehas

⁶Just then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

⁷On seeing this, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, got up from the assembly, took a spear in his hand,

⁸followed the Israelite into his tent, and drove the spear through both of them—through the Israelite and on through the belly of the woman.So the plague against the Israelites was halted,

⁹but those who died in the plague numbered 24,000.

¹⁰Then the LORD said to Moses,

¹¹“Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, has turned My wrath away from the Israelites; for he was zealous for My sake among them, so that I did not consume the Israelites in My zeal.

¹²Declare, therefore, that I am granting him My covenant of peace.

¹³It will be a covenant of permanent priesthood for him and his descendants, because he was zealous for his God and made atonement for the Israelites.”

¹⁴The name of the Israelite who was slain with the Midianite woman was Zimri son of Salu, the leader of a Simeonite family.

¹⁵And the name of the slain Midianite woman was Cozbi, the daughter of Zur, a tribal chief of a Midianite family.

¹⁶And the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁷“Attack the Midianites and strike them dead.

¹⁸For they assailed you deceitfully when they seduced you in the matter of Peor and their sister Cozbi, the daughter of the Midianite leader, the woman who was killed on the day the plague came because of Peor.”

Feasts and Sabbaths

¹Then the LORD said to Moses,

²“Speak to the Israelites and say to them, ‘These are My appointed feasts, the feasts of the LORD that you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies.

³For six days work may be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of complete rest, a day of sacred assembly. You must not do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD.

Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread

⁴These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, the sacred assemblies you are to proclaim at their appointed times.

⁵The Passover to the LORD begins at twilight on the fourteenthday of the first month.

⁶On the fifteenth day of the same month begins the Feast of Unleavened Breadto the LORD. For seven days you must eat unleavened bread.

⁷On the first day you are to hold a sacred assembly; you are not to do any regular work.

⁸For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the seventh day there shall be a sacred assembly; you must not do any regular work.’”

The Feast of Firstfruits

⁹And the LORD said to Moses,

¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘When you enter the land that I am giving you and you reap its harvest, you are to bring to the priest a sheaf of the firstfruits of your harvest.

¹¹And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD so that it may be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath.

¹²On the day you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the LORD,

¹³along with its grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flourmixed with oil—a food offering to the LORD, a pleasing aroma—and its drink offering of a quarter hin of wine.

¹⁴You must not eat any bread or roasted or new grain until the very day you have brought this offering to your God. This is to be a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.

The Feast of Weeks

¹⁵From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, you are to count off seven full weeks.

¹⁶You shall count off fifty days until the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD.

¹⁷Bring two loaves of bread from your dwellings as a wave offering, each made from two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with leaven, as the firstfruits to the LORD.

¹⁸Along with the bread you are to present seven unblemished male lambs a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings—a food offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD.

¹⁹You shall also prepare one male goat as a sin offering and two male lambs a year old as a peace offering.

²⁰The priest is to wave the lambs as a wave offering before the LORD, together with the bread of the firstfruits. The bread and the two lambs shall be holy to the LORD for the priest.

²¹On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly, and you must not do any regular work. This is to be a permanent statute wherever you live for the generations to come.

²²When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap all the way to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the foreign resident. I am the LORD your God.’”

The Feast of Trumpets

²³The LORD also said to Moses,

²⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly announced by trumpet blasts.

²⁵You must not do any regular work, but you are to present a food offering to the LORD.’”

The Day of Atonement

²⁶Again the LORD said to Moses,

²⁷“The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. You shall hold a sacred assembly and humble yourselves,and present a food offering to the LORD.

²⁸On this day you are not to do any work, for it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God.

²⁹If anyone does not humble himself on this day, he must be cut off from his people.

³⁰I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on this day.

³¹You are not to do any work at all. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come, wherever you live.

³²It will be a Sabbath of complete rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to keep your Sabbath.”

The Feast of Tabernacles

³³And the LORD said to Moses,

³⁴“Speak to the Israelites and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernaclesto the LORD begins, and it continues for seven days.

³⁵On the first day there shall be a sacred assembly. You must not do any regular work.

³⁶For seven days you are to present a food offering to the LORD. On the eighth day you are to hold a sacred assembly and present a food offering to the LORD. It is a solemn assembly; you must not do any regular work.

³⁷These are the LORD’s appointed feasts, which you are to proclaim as sacred assemblies for presenting food offerings to the LORD—burnt offerings and grain offerings, sacrifices and drink offerings, each on its designated day.

³⁸These offerings are in addition to the offerings for the LORD’s Sabbaths, and in addition to your gifts, to all your vow offerings, and to all the freewill offerings you give to the LORD.

³⁹On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the produce of the land, you are to celebrate a feast to the LORD for seven days. There shall be complete rest on the first day and also on the eighth day.

⁴⁰On the first day you are to gather the fruit of majestic trees, the branches of palm trees, and the boughs of leafy trees and of willowsof the brook. And you are to rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days.

⁴¹You are to celebrate this as a feast to the LORD for seven days each year. This is a permanent statute for the generations to come; you are to celebrate it in the seventh month.

⁴²You are to dwell in boothsfor seven days. All the native-born of Israel must dwell in booths,

⁴³so that your descendants may know that I made the Israelites dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’”

⁴⁴So Moses announced to the Israelites the appointed feasts of the LORD.

O God, Be Not Silent

¹O God, be not silent; be not speechless;be not still, O God.

²See how Your enemies rage,how Your foes have reared their heads.

³With cunning they scheme against Your peopleand conspire against those You cherish,

⁴saying, “Come, let us erase them as a nation;may the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

⁵For with one mind they plot together;they form an alliance against You—

⁶the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,of Moab and the Hagrites,

⁷of Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,of Philistia with the people of Tyre.

⁸Even Assyria has joined them,lending strength to the sons of Lot.Selah

⁹Do to them as You did to Midian,as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,

¹⁰who perished at Endorand became like dung on the ground.

¹¹Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

¹²who said, “Let us possess for ourselvesthe pastures of God.”

¹³Make them like tumbleweed, O my God,like chaff before the wind.

¹⁴As fire consumes a forest,as a flame sets the mountains ablaze,

¹⁵so pursue them with Your tempest,and terrify them with Your storm.

¹⁶Cover their faces with shame,that they may seek Your name, O LORD.

¹⁷May they be ever ashamed and terrified;may they perish in disgrace.

¹⁸May they know that You alone,whose name is the LORD,are Most High over all the earth.