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 the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled,

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

Bravehearted ¹  warriors will run away naked in that day.” The Lord is speaking!

But even the swiftest cannot get away. Even the strongest cannot escape. ¹  There in the north by the Euphrates River they stumble and fall in defeat. ² 

Disaster will be inescapable, ¹  as if a man ran from a lion only to meet a bear, then escaped ²  into a house, leaned his hand against the wall, and was bitten by a poisonous snake.

Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, ¹  if he has accidentally killed another ²  without hating him at the time of the accident. ³ 

Suppose he goes with someone else ¹  to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax ²  to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose ³  from the handle and strikes ⁴  his fellow worker ⁵  so hard that he dies. The person responsible ⁶  may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. ⁷ 

I saw the sovereign One ¹  standing by the altar ²  and he said, “Strike the tops of the support pillars, ³  so the thresholds shake! Knock them down on the heads of all the people, ⁴  and I will kill the survivors ⁵  with the sword. No one will be able to run away; ⁶  no one will be able to escape. ⁷