Joshua 20

1 The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,

2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,

Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Assign for you the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,

3 that the man slayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.

that the manslayer who kills any soul unwittingly and unawares may flee there. And they shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.

4 He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them.

And he shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. And they shall take him into the city to them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

5 If the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver up the man slayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and did not hate him before.

And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him formerly.

6 He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the man slayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.’”

And he shall dwell in that city, until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest who shall be in those days. Then the manslayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city from where he fled.

7 They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

And they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah.

8 Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

And beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in 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.

9 These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands trial before the congregation.

These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any soul unwittingly might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.