Josua 20

1 Og Herren talede til Josva og sagde:

Then Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 Tal til Israels Børn, sigende: Afgiver for eder de Tilflugtsstæder, om hvilke jeg talede til eder ved Mose,

“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 at en Manddraber, som af Vaade, uforsætlig slaar en Person ihjel, kan fly derhen, og at de kunne være eder til Tilflugt for Blodhævneren.

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 Og han skal fly til en af disse Stæder, og han skal staa uden for Indgangen til Stadens Port og tale sine Ord for de Ældstes Øren af samme Stad, saa skulle de tage ham ind i Staden til sig og give ham et Sted, hvor han kan bo hos dem.

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 Og naar Blodhævneren forfølger ham, da skulle de ikke overantvorde Manddraberen i hans Haand, efterdi han slog sin Næste uforsætlig og ikke tilforn var hans Fjende.

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 Saa skal han bo i den samme Stad, indtil han har staaet for Menighedens Ansigt for Retten, indtil den Ypperstepræst, som var i de Dage, er død; da maa Manddraberen vende tilbage og komme til sin Stad og til sit Hus, til Staden, hvorfra han flyede.

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 Saa helligede de Kedes i Galilæa paa Nafthali Bjerg og Sikem paa Efraims Bjerg og Kirjath-Arba, det er Hebron, paa Judas Bjerg.

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 Og paa hin Side Jordanen ved Jeriko, mod Østen, afgave de Bezer i Ørken paa Sletten af Rubens gtamme og Ramoth i Gilead af Gads Stamme og Golan i Basan af Manasse Stamme.

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 Disse vare de Stæder, som vare beskikkede for alle Israels Børn og for den fremmede, som var fremmed midt iblandt dem, at hver den, som slog en Person af Vaade, maatte fly derhen, at han ikke skulde dø ved Blodhævnerens Haand, inden han havde staaet for Menighedens Ansigt.

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].