35:1 1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. 2 He said: 35:2 “Instruct the Israelites to give 3 the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites 4 will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 35:3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals. 35:4 The grazing lands around the towns that you will give to the Levites must extend to a distance of 500 yards 5 from the town wall.
35:5 “You must measure 6 from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, 7 and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. 8 This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns. 35:6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. 9 And you must give them forty-two other towns.
35:7 “So the total of the towns you will give the Levites is forty-eight. You must give these together with their grazing lands. 35:8 The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.