Numbers 35:7-9

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ The towns that you give to the Levites shall total forty-eight, with their pasture lands. ⁸ And as for the towns that you shall give from the possession of the Israelites, from the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it obtains, shall give of its towns to the Levites.

Cities of Refuge

⁹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: