13 Bible Verses about Asylum

"All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities.

Then Moses set apart three cities {on the other side of the Jordan}, {toward the east}, [in order for] {a manslayer} to flee there [who] has killed his neighbor {without intent} and was not hating him {previously}, and [so] he could flee to one of these cities {and be safe}. [He set apart] Bezer in the wilderness in the land of the plateau of the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead of the Gadites, and Golan in Bashan of the Manassites.

"When Yahweh your God has {exterminated} the nations [concerning whom] Yahweh your God [is] giving to you their land, and you have dispossessed them, and you have settled in their towns and in their houses, you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it. You shall prepare the roads for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that {it will be available for any manslayer to flee there}.read more.
"Now this [is] the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live [there] who has killed his neighbor {unintentionally}, and he did not hate him {previously}. {For example}, when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron [head] slips from the handle [of the tool] and strikes his neighbor and he dies, [then] he may flee to one of these cities, and [so] he may live. [He does this] lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because {he is hot with anger} and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance [to the city of refuge], and [so] {he kills him}, but {he did not deserve a death sentence}, because he [was] not hating him {before}. Therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall set apart three cities.' Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory [just] as he swore to your ancestors and gives to you all the land that he {promised} to give to your ancestors, [then] {if you diligently observe this entire commandment} that I [am] commanding you {today} by loving Yahweh your God and by going in his ways {at all times}, then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three. [Do this] so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you [as an] inheritance and [thereby] bloodguilt would be on you. But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him {and murders him}, and [the murderer] flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death. Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, {so that good will be directed toward you}. "You shall not move the boundary [marker] of your neighbor that {former generations} set up on your property in the land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it.

And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through the hand of Moses. Anyone who kills a person by accident or unintentionally may flee there; they will be for yourselves a refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and {he did not hate him previously}. The killer will stay in that city until he stands before the congregation for the trial, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then {the killer will return} to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled.'" So {they set apart} Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that [is], Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities designated for all the {Israelites}, and for the foreigners dwelling among them, for anyone that kills a person unintentionally to flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, {until there is a trial} before the congregation.

And they gave them the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,

The men said to her, "We [will be] released from this oath of yours that you made us swear. [When] we come to the land, you must tie this scarlet cord in the window through which you let us down, and you must gather your father and mother, and your brothers, and your whole family to your house. If anyone goes outside the doors of your house, {they will be responsible for their own death}, and we [will be] innocent. Anyone who will be with you in the house, {we will be responsible for their death} {if a hand is laid on them}.read more.
But if you report this business of ours, we will be released from your oath that you made us swear." And she said, "According to your word it [will be]." Then she sent them away, and they went, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

Then David {thought to himself}, "Now I will perish one day by the hand of Saul! There is nothing better for me but [that] I must certainly escape to the land of [the] Philistines. Then Saul will desist from searching for me further in all of the territories of Israel, and so I will escape from his hand." So David got up and crossed over, he and the six hundred men who [were] with him, to Achish the son of Maoch, the king of Gath. David settled with Achish in Gath, he and his men, each with his household. David [took along] his two wives Ahinoam {from Jezreel} and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite.read more.
And it was reported to Saul that David had fled [to] Gath, so {he no longer searched for him}. Then David said to Achish, "Please, if I have found favor in your eyes, then let them give me a place in one of the {country towns} that I can live there. Why should your servant live in {the royal city} with you?" So Achish gave him Ziklag on that day. (Therefore, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah until this day.) The number of days that David lived in the countryside of the Philistines [was] one year and four months. Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites and the Girzites and the Amalekites, for they had been living [in] the land for a long time {in the direction of} Shur and {as far as} the land of Egypt. So David struck the land and did not leave a man or a woman alive; he took the sheep, the cattle, the donkeys, the camels, and the clothing. Then he returned and came to Achish. And Achish said, "Against whom have you raided today?" David said, "Against the Negev of Judah and against the Negev of the Jerahmeelites and against the Negev of the Kenites." And David did not leave alive a man or a woman to bring [them back] to Gath, thinking, "So that they will not report about us, saying, 'David did thus and so.'" Thus was his practice all the days that he lived in the countryside of [the] Philistines. And Achish trusted David, saying, "{He has made himself utterly hated} among his people in Israel, and he will be my servant forever."

But if he did not lie in wait {and it was an accident}, I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee.

you will select for yourselves cities for your cities of refuge, that a killer who has killed a person unintentionally can flee there. The cities will be to you a refuge from a redeemer, so that the killer will not die until he stands before the community for judgment. The cities that you are to give will be your six cities of refuge.read more.
You will give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they will be cities of refuge. To the {Israelites}, to the alien, and to the temporary resident in their midst there will be these six cities as a refuge to which anyone who unintentionally kills a person may flee. " 'But if he hit him with an object of iron, so that he dies, the killer must surely be put to death. And if he hit him with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and he does die, he [is] a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. Or if he hit him with a wooden object, by which he will die, and he does die, he [is] a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. The blood avenger himself will put the killer to death; he must put him to death when meeting him. If he shoves him in hatred, or he throws something at him with intention, and he dies, or if he hits him in hostility with his hand, and he dies, the one that struck him will put to death the killer when meeting him. " 'Or if in an instant he shoved him, not in hostility, or threw something at him without intention, or with any stone, without seeing it dropped on him so that he dies, while [he was] not seeking his injury, then the community will judge between the striker and between the blood avenger according to these ordinances. The community will deliver the killer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the community will restore him to the city of his refuge to which he fled; and he will live there in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. But if the killer surely goes out of the territory of the city of his refuge to which he fled, and the blood avenger finds him outside the territory of the city of his refuge, and the blood avenger kills the killer, {he will not be guilty of blood} because he must live in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the killer will return to the land of his property. These things will be as a decree of justice for you for your generations in all your dwellings. " 'If anyone kills a person, the killer will be put to death {according to the testimony} of witnesses, but someone cannot die on testimony of one person. Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who [is] guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death. You will not take a ransom payment for the one that flees to the city of his refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.

you shall set apart three cities for you in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you to take possession of it. You shall prepare the roads for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that {it will be available for any manslayer to flee there}. "Now this [is] the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live [there] who has killed his neighbor {unintentionally}, and he did not hate him {previously}.read more.
{For example}, when somebody goes with his neighbor into the forest to cut wood, and the iron [head] slips from the handle [of the tool] and strikes his neighbor and he dies, [then] he may flee to one of these cities, and [so] he may live. [He does this] lest the avenger of blood might pursue after the killer, because {he is hot with anger} and he overtakes him, because it is a long distance [to the city of refuge], and [so] {he kills him}, but {he did not deserve a death sentence}, because he [was] not hating him {before}. Therefore I [am] commanding you, {saying}, 'You shall set apart three cities.' Then if Yahweh your God enlarges your territory [just] as he swore to your ancestors and gives to you all the land that he {promised} to give to your ancestors, [then] {if you diligently observe this entire commandment} that I [am] commanding you {today} by loving Yahweh your God and by going in his ways {at all times}, then you shall add three more cities for yourselves to these three. [Do this] so that innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land that Yahweh your God [is] giving to you [as an] inheritance and [thereby] bloodguilt would be on you. But if someone hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him {and murders him}, and [the murderer] flees to one of these cities, then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there, and they shall give him into the hand of the avenger of blood, and he shall be put to death. Your eye shall not take pity on him, and you shall purge the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, {so that good will be directed toward you}.

And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, "Speak to the {Israelites}, saying, 'Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through the hand of Moses. Anyone who kills a person by accident or unintentionally may flee there; they will be for yourselves a refuge from the avenger of blood.read more.
The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand [at] the entrance of the gate of the city, and {state his case to the elders of that city}; and they will take him into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them. And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and {he did not hate him previously}. The killer will stay in that city until he stands before the congregation for the trial, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then {the killer will return} to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled.'"

So {they set apart} Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that [is], Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. These were the cities designated for all the {Israelites}, and for the foreigners dwelling among them, for anyone that kills a person unintentionally to flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, {until there is a trial} before the congregation.

You shall prepare the roads for yourselves, and you shall divide the regions of your land into thirds that Yahweh your God gives you as a possession, so that {it will be available for any manslayer to flee there}.