But if he does not do it with premeditation, ¹  but it happens by accident, ²  then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.

But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, ¹  you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger ¹  to die.

Has the Lord struck down Israel like he did their oppressors? ¹  Has Israel been killed like their enemies? ² 

then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions.

from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Mahanaim,

For the one who takes revenge against murderers took notice of the oppressed; ¹  he did not overlook ²  their cry for help ³ 

The one who is tormented ¹  by the murder ²  of another will flee to the pit; ³  let no one support him.

“‘He gave it to be polished, to be grasped in the hand – the sword is sharpened, it is polished – giving it into the hand of the executioner.

Then when desire conceives, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is full grown, it gives birth to death.

But no human being can subdue the tongue; it is a restless ¹  evil, full of deadly poison.

Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, ¹  and kill him, ²  though this is not a capital case ³  since he did not hate him at the time of the accident.

In fact, ¹  I hear a cry like that of a woman in labor, a cry of anguish like that of a woman giving birth to her first baby. It is the cry of Daughter Zion ²  gasping for breath, reaching out for help, ³  saying, “I am done in! ⁴  My life is ebbing away before these murderers!”

And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community.

“But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, ¹  he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death.

So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they assigned Hebron (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Libnah,

They assigned them Shechem (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer,

from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, along with the grazing areas of each – a total of three cities.

When Jehu came through the gate, she said, “Is everything all right, Zimri, murderer of his master?” ¹ 

Just as the Lord had announced, he rejected Judah because of all the sins which Manasseh had committed. ¹