Joshua 20

1 Joshua te BOEIPA a voek tih,

Then Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 “Israel ca rhoek te thui pah lamtah, Moses kut dongah nangmih ham ka thui vanbangla, ‘Hlipyingnah khopuei te namamih ham khueh uh,’ ti nah.

“Tell the Israeli people that they should choose some cities to which people [can run] in order to be safe/protected, like I told Moses that they should do.

3 A ming mueh ah tohtamaeh la hinglu aka ngawn, aka ngawn tah te lam te rhaelrham saeh. Te vaengah thii phu aka suk taeng lamloh nangmih ham hlipyingnah la om saeh.

If someone kills another person accidentally, not intending to kill that person, the one who killed that person may run/escape to one of these cities and be safe/protected from someone trying to get revenge for that person’s death [MTY].

4 Te khopuei khuikah pakhat pakhat la a rhaelrham vaengah khopuei vongka kah thohka ah pai saeh lamtah a dum a lai te khopuei kah a hamca rhoek hna ah thui pah saeh. Te vaengah anih te a kho khuila khoem uh saeh, anih te a hmuen pae uh van saeh lamtah amih taengah khosa saeh.

When the one who killed someone arrives at the gate of one of those cities, he must stop there and tell the leaders of the city what happened. [If they believe him], they must allow him to enter the city, and they must give him a place to live among them.

5 Te vaengah thii phu aka suk loh a hnuk han hloem mai cakhaw hlaem hlavai ah anih te a hmuhuet moenih, a hui te poek mueh la a ngawn oeh dongah hlang aka ngawn te phu aka suk kut ah tloeng uh boel saeh.

If some relative of the one who was killed comes to that city to get revenge, the leaders of that city must not allow the relative to take the killer, because what happened was accidental. He did not hate that person and as a result deliberately kill him.

6 Laitloeknah ham rhaengpuei mikhmuh ah pai hlan tih, te vaeng tue ah aka om khosoih puei loh a duek hlan khuiah tah te khopuei ah te khosa saeh. Hlang aka ngawn te a mael vaengah tah te lamkah a rhaelrham khopuei lamloh amah kho neh amah im te paan saeh,” a ti nah.

But the person who killed someone must stay in that city until the city judges put him on trial. [Only if the judges decide that the person who has run/escaped to their city did not deliberately kill the other person will they allow him to stay in that city], and he must stay there until the Supreme Priest dies. Then he may safely go back to his own town, [because the death of the Supreme Priest will be considered to atone/pay for the death of the person who was killed].”

7 Te dongah Galilee, Naphtali tlang kah Kedesh, Ephraim tlang ah Shekhem, Judah tlang Hebron ah Kiriatharba,

So the Israelis chose these cities to be cities to which people could run to be safe/protected: Kedesh in the Galilee district in the hilly area where the tribe of Naphtali lived; Shechem in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim lived; Kiriath-Arba (which is [now named] Hebron) in the hilly area where the tribe of Judah lived;

8 rhalvangan ah Jordan kah khocuk Jerikho te a hoep uh. Khosoek tlangkol, Reuben koca khuiah ah Bezer, Gilead kah Gad koca khuiah Ramoth, Bashan kah Manasseh koca khuiah Golan te a khueh uh.

Bezer, on the east side of the Jordan [River] near Jericho, in the flat land in the desert where the tribe of Reuben lived; Ramoth in the Gilead [region] in the land where the tribe of Gad lived; and Golan in the Bashan region where the tribe of Manasseh lived.

9 Tohtamaeh ah hinglu aka ngawn boeih loh te la a rhaelrham ham, amih lakli ah aka bakuep Israel ca rhoek boeih neh yinlai ham khaw te rhoek te khopuei khoyaeh la om coeng. Te daengah ni rhaengpuei mikhmuh ah a pai hlan atah thii phu aka suk kut loh a ngawn pawt eh.

Any Israeli or any foreigner who lived among us, anyone who killed someone (accidentally/without planning to do it), was allowed to run to one of those cities, and be safe/protected from some relative of the person who died coming there and killing him to get revenge. He could stay in that city until there was a trial there [to decide whether he was telling the truth or not when he said that he did not plan to kill that person].