Deuteronomy 4:42

⁶“The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the man slayer to flee to. Besides them you shall give forty-two cities.

¹¹then you shall appoint for yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the man slayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. ¹²The cities shall be for your refuge from the avenger, that the man slayer not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.

¹⁵These six cities shall be refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the foreigner living among them, that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.

¹⁶“‘But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁹The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death. When he meets him, he shall put him to death. ²⁰If he shoved him out of hatred, or hurled something at him while lying in wait, so that he died, ²¹or in hostility struck him with his hand, so that he died, he who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²“‘But if he shoved him suddenly without hostility, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, ²³or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him so that he died, and he was not his enemy and not seeking his harm, ²⁴then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances. ²⁵The congregation shall deliver the man slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he had fled. He shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶“‘But if the man slayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge where he flees, ²⁷and the avenger of blood finds him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the man slayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, ²⁸because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the man slayer shall return into the land of his possession.

¹When the LORD your God cuts off the nations whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you succeed them and dwell in their cities and in their houses, ²you shall set apart three cities for yourselves in the middle of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess. ³You shall prepare the way, and divide the borders of your land which the LORD your God causes you to inherit into three parts, that every man slayer may flee there. ⁴This is the case of the man slayer who shall flee there and live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, and didn’t hate him in time past— ⁵as when a man goes into the forest with his neighbor to chop wood and his hand swings the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle and hits his neighbor so that he dies—he shall flee to one of these cities and live. ⁶Otherwise, the avenger of blood might pursue the man slayer while hot anger is in his heart and overtake him, because the way is long, and strike him mortally, even though he was not worthy of death, because he didn’t hate him in time past. ⁷Therefore I command you to set apart three cities for yourselves. ⁸If the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give to your fathers; ⁹and if you keep all this commandment to do it, which I command you today, to love the LORD your God, and to walk ever in his ways, then you shall add three cities more for yourselves, in addition to these three. ¹⁰This is so that innocent blood will not be shed in the middle of your land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, leaving blood guilt on you.

¹⁸that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have a strong encouragement, who have fled for refuge to take hold of the hope set before us.