13 Bible Verses about Asylum

And among the cities which you shall give unto the Levites there shall be six cities for refuge, which you shall appoint for the manslayer, that he may flee there: and to them you shall add forty and two cities.

Then Moses set apart three cities on this side of Jordan toward the sun rising; That the slayer might flee there, who should kill his neighbor unintentionally, 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, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.

When the LORD your God has cut off the nations, whose land the LORD your God gives you, and you dispossess them, and dwell in their cities, and in their houses; You shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess it. You shall prepare you a way, and divide the territory of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there.read more.
And this is the case of the manslayer, who shall flee there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, whom he hated not in time past; As when a man goes into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle, and strikes his neighbor, that he dies; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: Lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his anger is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated the victim not in time past. Therefore I command you, saying, you shall set apart three cities for you. And if the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn unto your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give unto your fathers; If you shall keep all these commandments to do them, which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to walk always in his ways; then shall you add three more cities for you, besides these three: That innocent blood be not shed in your land, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and so blood be upon you. But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and wounds him mortally that he dies, and flees into one of these cities: Then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you. You shall not remove your neighbor's landmark, which the men of old time have set, in your inheritance which you shall inherit in the land that the LORD your God gives you to possess it.

The LORD also spoke unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that kills any person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
And when he that does flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and hated him not beforehand. 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 slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from where he fled. And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side of Jordan east of Jericho, 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 children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourns among them, that whosoever kills any person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.

And they gave unto them, of the cities of refuge, Shechem in mount Ephraim with its pasture lands; they gave also Gezer with its pasture lands,

And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless concerning this your oath which you have made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shall bring your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all your father's household, home unto you. And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of your house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him.read more.
And if you utter this our business, then we will be free of your oath which you have made us to 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, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any border of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand. And David arose, and he passed 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, every man with his household, even David with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal's widow.read more.
And it was told Saul that David was fled to Gath: and he sought no more again for him. And David said unto Achish, If I have now found grace in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there: for why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you? Then Achish gave him Ziklag that day: therefore Ziklag has belonged unto the kings of Judah unto this day. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines was a full year and four months. And David and his men went up, and invaded the Geshurites, and the Gizites, and the Amalekites: for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land, as you go to Shur, even unto the land of Egypt. And David struck the land, and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the donkeys, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned, and came to Achish. And Achish said, where have you made a raid today? And David said, Against the south of Judah, and against the south of the Jerahmeelites, and against the south of the Kenites. And David saved neither man nor woman alive, to bring tidings to Gath, saying, Lest they should tell on us, saying, So did David, and so will be his custom all the while he dwells in the country of the Philistines. And Achish believed David, saying, He has made his people Israel utterly to abhor him; therefore he shall be my servant forever.

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

Then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee there, who kills any person unintentionally. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stands before the congregation in judgment. And of these cities which you shall give, six cities shall you have for refuge.read more.
You shall give three cities on this side of Jordan, and three cities shall you give in the land of Canaan, which shall be cities of refuge. These six cities shall be a refuge, both for the children of Israel, and for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them: that every one that kills any person unintentionally may flee there. But if he strikes 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 strikes him with throwing a stone, by which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. Or if he strikes him with a hand weapon of wood, by which he may die, and he dies, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. The avenger of blood himself shall slay the murderer: when he meets him, he shall slay him. But if he pushes him from hatred, or hurls at him by lying in wait, that he dies; Or in enmity strikes him with his hand, that he dies: he that struck him shall surely be put to death; for he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall slay the murderer, when he meets him. But if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or has cast upon him anything without lying in wait, Or used any stone, by which a man may die, seeing him not, and cast 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 avenger of blood according to these judgments: And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, where he had fled: and he shall abide in it until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come outside the border of the city of his refuge, where he had fled; And the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the city of his refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because 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 slayer shall return into the land of his possession. So these things shall be for a statute of judgment unto you throughout your generations 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 you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. And you 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.

You shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess it. You shall prepare you a way, and divide the territory of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there. And this is the case of the manslayer, who shall flee there, that he may live: Whoever kills his neighbor unintentionally, whom he hated not in time past;read more.
As when a man goes into the wood with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand swings a stroke with the ax to cut down the tree, and the head slips from the handle, and strikes his neighbor, that he dies; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: Lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his anger is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated the victim not in time past. Therefore I command you, saying, you shall set apart three cities for you. And if the LORD your God enlarges your border, as he has sworn unto your fathers, and gives you all the land which he promised to give unto your fathers; If you shall keep all these commandments to do them, which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to walk always in his ways; then shall you add three more cities for you, besides these three: That innocent blood be not shed in your land, which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance, and so blood be upon you. But if any man hate his neighbor, and lie in wait for him, and rise up against him, and wounds him mortally that he dies, and flees into one of these cities: Then the elders of his city shall send and bring him from there, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. Your eye shall not pity him, but you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with you.

The LORD also spoke unto Joshua, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses: That the slayer that kills any person accidentally and unintentionally may flee there: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
And when he that does flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and hated him not beforehand. 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 slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from where he fled.

And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. And on the other side of Jordan east of Jericho, 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 children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourns among them, that whosoever kills any person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.

You shall prepare you a way, and divide the territory of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee there.