רָצַח

You shall not murder.

Six 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.

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

You 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.

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

Or 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.

If 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.

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

…or 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.

The 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.

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

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

…because 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.

If 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.

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

…to which a manslayer could flee after killing his neighbor unintentionally without prior malice. To save one’s own life, he could flee to one of these cities:

You shall not murder.

You are to build roads for yourselves and divide into three regions the land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, so that any manslayer can flee to these cities.

Now this is the situation regarding the manslayer who flees to one of these cities to save his life, having killed his neighbor accidentally, without intending to harm him:

Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in a rage, overtake him if the distance is great, and strike him dead though he did not deserve to die, since he did not intend any harm.

Do nothing to the young woman, because she has committed no sin worthy of death. This case is just like one in which a man attacks his neighbor and murders him.

…so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.

He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own home in the city from which he fled.”

So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

…they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,

So the Levite, the husband of the murdered woman, answered: “I and my concubine came to Gibeah in Benjamin to spend the night.

Tell him that this is what the LORD says: ‘Have you not murdered a man and seized his land?’ Then tell him that this is also what the LORD says: ‘In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, there also the dogs will lick up your blood—yes, yours!’”

Now Elisha was sitting in his house, and the elders were sitting with him. The king sent a messenger ahead, but before he arrived, Elisha said to the elders, “Do you see how this murderer has sent someone to cut off my head? Look, when the messenger comes, shut the door to keep him out. Is not the sound of his master’s footsteps behind him?”

When daylight is gone, the murderer rises to kill the poor and needy; in the night he is like a thief.

How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you throw him down like a leaning wall or a tottering fence?

They kill the widow and the foreigner; they murder the fatherless.

The slacker says, “There is a lion outside! I will be slain in the streets!”

See how the faithful city has become a harlot! She once was full of justice; righteousness resided within her, but now only murderers!

Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal, and follow other gods that you have not known,

Cursing and lying, murder and stealing, and adultery are rampant; one act of bloodshed follows another.

Like raiders who lie in ambush, so does a band of priests; they murder on the way to Shechem; surely they have committed atrocities.