13 Bible Verses about Asylum

And among the cities which ye shall give unto the Levites, there shall be six cities for refuge, which ye shall appoint so that the manslayer may flee there; and in addition to them ye shall give them forty-two cities.

Then Moses separated three cities on this side of the Jordan toward the sunrising that the manslayer might flee there, who should kill his neighbour unawares and hated him not in times past and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live: Namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the plain country, of the Reubenites, and Ramoth in Gilead, of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan, of the Manassites.

When the LORD thy God has cut off the Gentiles whose land the LORD thy God gives thee, and thou hast inherited them and dost dwell in their cities and in their houses, thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit. Thou shalt prepare thee a way and divide the borders of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, into three parts, so that every manslayer may flee there.read more.
And this is the case of the manslayer who is to flee there, that he may live: whoever kills his neighbour by mistake, whom he hated not in time past; and he who went into the woods with his neighbour to cut firewood and his hand fetched a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree and the head slipped from the handle and lighted upon his neighbour so that he died, he shall flee unto one of those cities and live, lest the avenger of the blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. Therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the LORD thy God enlarges thy borders, as he has sworn unto thy fathers, and gives thee all the land which he was to give unto thy fathers, when thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day: to love the LORD thy God, and to walk all the days in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three, that innocent blood not be shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance, and the blood shall not be upon thee. But when any man hates his neighbour and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and smites him mortally that he dies and flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee. Thou shalt not reduce thy neighbour's border, which those of old time have marked in thine inheritance, which thou shalt possess in the land that the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit.

And the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses, so that the manslayer who kills any person in error and without knowledge may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
And he that flees unto one of these cities shall present himself at the entering of the gate of the city and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city; they shall receive him into the city among them and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And when the avenger of blood pursues after him, they shall not deliver the manslayer up into his hand because he smote his neighbour by error, nor did he have enmity with him before. And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days; then shall the manslayer return, and come unto his own city and unto his own house unto the city from where he fled. Then they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in the mountain of Naphtali and Shechem in the mountain of Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side of the Jordan of Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger that sojourns among them that anyone who kills any person by error might flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

And they gave unto them, of the cities of refuge, Shechem in Mount Ephraim with her suburbs; they gave also Gezer with her suburbs,

And the men said unto her, We will be exempted of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear in the following manner. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shall have bound this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by, and thou shall have brought thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee. And it shall be that whoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his own head, and we will be guiltless; and whoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head if any hand touches him.read more.
And if thou should declare this our business, then we will be exempted of thine oath which thou hast made us swear. And she said, According unto your words, so be it. And she sent them away, and they departed; and she bound the scarlet line in the window.

And David said in his heart, In the end I shall be killed some day by the hand of Saul; there is nothing better for me than that I should escape once and for all into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more within the borders of Israel; so shall I escape out of his hand. And David arose, and he went over with the six hundred men that were with him unto Achish, the son of Maoch, king of Gath. And David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each one with his household, David with his two wives, Ahinoam, the Jezreelitess, and Abigail, who had been the wife of Nabal of Carmel.read more.
And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, and he sought him no more. And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let me be given a place in one of the cities of the land that I may dwell there, for why should thy slave dwell in the royal city with thee? Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore, Ziklag pertains to the kings of Judah unto this day. And the number of days that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was four months and some days. And David and his men went up and invaded the Geshurites and the Gezrites and the Amalekites, for these had inhabited the land for a long time, from as thou goest unto Shur even unto the land of Egypt. And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel and returned and came to Achish. And Achish would say, Where have ye raided today? And David would say, Against the south of Judah and towards the Negev of the Jerahmeelites or towards the Negev of the Kenites. And David left neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David. And this was his manner all the time he dwelt in the land of the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He is making himself abominable unto his people of Israel; therefore, he shall be my slave for ever.

And if a man did not lie in wait but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint thee a place where he shall flee.

then ye shall appoint yourselves cities to be cities of refuge for you that the manslayer who kills any person unawares may flee there. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger that the manslayer not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which ye shall give, six cities shall ye have for refuge.read more.
Ye shall give three cities on this side of the Jordan and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the sons of Israel and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them that anyone that kills another person unawares may flee there. And if he smites him with an instrument of iron so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. And if he smites him by throwing a stone with which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he smites him with a hand weapon of wood with which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. The kinsman avenger of blood shall slay the murderer; when he meets him, he shall slay him. But if he thrusts him out of hatred or hurls at him by laying in wait, so that he dies or out of enmity smites him with his hand so that he dies, he that smote him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer; the kinsman avenger of blood shall slay the murderer when he meets him. But if he thrusts him suddenly without enmity, or has cast upon him any thing without laying in wait, or with any stone, with which a man may die, seeing him not and casts it upon him that he dies, and was not his enemy, neither sought his harm, then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the kinsman avenger of blood according to these laws. And the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the kinsman avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, where he has fled, and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the manslayer shall at any time come outside the border of the city of his refuge where he has fled, and the kinsman avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the kinsman avenger of blood slays the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of his blood. He should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of rights unto you throughout your ages in all your dwellings. Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses, but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall be surely put to death. And ye shall take no ransom for him that is fled to the city of his refuge, that he should come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.

thou shalt separate three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit. Thou shalt prepare thee a way and divide the borders of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, into three parts, so that every manslayer may flee there. And this is the case of the manslayer who is to flee there, that he may live: whoever kills his neighbour by mistake, whom he hated not in time past;read more.
and he who went into the woods with his neighbour to cut firewood and his hand fetched a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree and the head slipped from the handle and lighted upon his neighbour so that he died, he shall flee unto one of those cities and live, lest the avenger of the blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him, whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past. Therefore, I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate three cities for thee. And if the LORD thy God enlarges thy borders, as he has sworn unto thy fathers, and gives thee all the land which he was to give unto thy fathers, when thou shalt keep all these commandments to do them, which I command thee this day: to love the LORD thy God, and to walk all the days in his ways, then shalt thou add three cities more for thee, besides these three, that innocent blood not be shed in thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee for an inheritance, and the blood shall not be upon thee. But when any man hates his neighbour and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and smites him mortally that he dies and flees into one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shalt put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel that it may go well with thee.

And the LORD spoke unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses, so that the manslayer who kills any person in error and without knowledge may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
And he that flees unto one of these cities shall present himself at the entering of the gate of the city and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city; they shall receive him into the city among them and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And when the avenger of blood pursues after him, they shall not deliver the manslayer up into his hand because he smote his neighbour by error, nor did he have enmity with him before. And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days; then shall the manslayer return, and come unto his own city and unto his own house unto the city from where he fled.

Then they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in the mountain of Naphtali and Shechem in the mountain of Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side of the Jordan of Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities appointed for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger that sojourns among them that anyone who kills any person by error might flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

Thou shalt prepare thee a way and divide the borders of thy land, which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, into three parts, so that every manslayer may flee there.