Numbers 35:1–8 — Cities for the Levites

OET-RV by section NUM 35:1

This OET Readers’ Version was designed to be used with the Literal Version alongside, so you won’t get the best understanding from this single viewpoint. This is still an early look into the drafted text of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check the text in advance before using in public.

Cities for the Levites

35:1 Cities for the Levites

35 ⇔While they were there on the Moav (Moab) plains beside the Yarden (Jordan) river, Yahweh told Mosheh (Moses). 2 “Tell the Israelis that out of the land that they’ll own, they must give the Levites cities for them to live in,[ref] as well as some pastureland around those cities. 3 The cities will be for them to live in, and that pastureland will be for their herds and their flocks, and for their other animals. 4 The pastureland must extend out half a kilometre around the walls of the Levites cities. 5 Then going out a kilometre in each compass direction, that will also be their land.[fn] 6 The Levites must be given forty-two cities to live in, plus you all must designate six refuge cities so that if someone accidentally kills another, they can flee to the refuge city. 7 That would make a total of forty-eight cities, plus their pasturelands, to be given to the Levites. 8 The larger tribes must give more cities than the smaller tribes, according to the area that they inherit.”

35:5 It’s not exactly clear what different activities would occur in these two rings of land, but remember that as much food as possible and animals would have to be brought into the city as soon as the residents received news of an approaching army.