Numbers 35:1-8

Cities for the Levites

¹Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab, by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying, ²“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities. ³The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their equipment and for all their other animals.

⁴“The pasture lands of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits around. ⁵You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

Cities of Refuge

⁶The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall provide for the one who commits manslaughter to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷The total number of the cities which you are to give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands. ⁸As for the cities which you shall give them from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger, and you shall take fewer from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his inheritance which he possesses.”