THE CITIES OF REFUGE
1 “After the Lord your God has destroyed the people whose land he is giving you and after you have taken their cities and houses and settled there,
2-3 divide the territory into three parts, each with a city that can be easily reached. Then any of you that kill will be able to escape to one of them for protection.
4 If you accidentally kill someone who is not your enemy, you may escape to any of these cities and be safe.
5 For example, if two of you go into the forest together to cut wood and if, as one of you is chopping down a tree, the ax head comes off the handle and kills the other, you can run to one of those three cities and be safe.
6 If there were only one city, the distance to it might be too great, and the relative who is responsible for taking revenge for the killing might catch you and angrily kill an innocent person. After all, it was by accident that you killed someone who was not your enemy.
7 This is why I order you to set aside three cities.
8 “When the Lord your God enlarges your territory, as he told your ancestors he would, and gives you all the land he has promised,
9 then you are to select three more cities. (He will give you this land if you do everything that I command you today and if you love the Lord your God and live according to his teachings.)
10 Do this, so that innocent people will not die and so that you will not be guilty of putting them to death in the land that the Lord is giving you.
11 “But suppose you deliberately murder your enemy in cold blood and then escape to one of those cities for protection.
12 In that case, the leaders of your own town are to send for you and hand you over to the relative responsible for taking revenge for the murder, so that you may be put to death.
13 No mercy will be shown to you. Israel must rid itself of murderers, so that all will go well.
14 “Do not move your neighbor's property line, established long ago in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
ACTS 21:17-26
PAUL VISITS JAMES
17 When we arrived in Jerusalem, the believers welcomed us warmly. 18 The next day Paul went with us to see James; and all the church elders were present.
19 Paul greeted them and gave a complete report of everything that God had done among the Gentiles through his work.
20 After hearing him, they all praised God. Then they said, “Brother Paul, you can see how many thousands of Jews have become believers, and how devoted they all are to the Law.
21 They have been told that you have been teaching all the Jews who live in Gentile countries to abandon the Law of Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or follow the Jewish customs.
22 They are sure to hear that you have arrived. What should be done, then?
23 This is what we want you to do. There are four men here who have taken a vow.
24 Go along with them and join them in the ceremony of purification and pay their expenses; then they will be able to shave their heads. In this way everyone will know that there is no truth in any of the things that they have been told about you, but that you yourself live in accordance with the Law of Moses.
25 But as for the Gentiles who have become believers, we have sent them a letter telling them we decided that they must not eat any food that has been offered to idols, or any blood, or any animal that has been strangled, and that they must keep themselves from sexual immorality.”
26 So Paul took the men and the next day performed the ceremony of purification with them. Then he went into the Temple and gave notice of how many days it would be until the end of the period of purification, when a sacrifice would be offered for each one of them.
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