Joshua 20

1 Then the Lord told Joshua,

The Lord also spake vnto Ioshua, saying,

2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Assign sanctuary towns, as I instructed you through Moses.

Speake to the children of Israel, and say, Appoint you cities of refuge, whereof I spake vnto you by the hand of Moses,

3 Then any man who kills somebody by accident, unintentionally, can run there and they will be protected from those who wish to take revenge.

That the slaier that killeth any person by ignorance, and vnwittingly, may flee thither, and they shall be your refuge from the auenger of blood.

4 When he gets to one of these towns, he shall state his case to the elders at the town gates. They must allow him to enter, and they will also arrange a place for him to stay.

And he that doeth flee vnto one of those cities, shall stand at the entring of the gate of the citie, and shall shewe his cause to the Elders of the citie: and they shall receiue him into the citie vnto them, and giue him a place, that hee may dwell with them.

5 If the one seeking revenge comes looking for the man, they must not hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, because he killed someone unintentionally and without deliberate hatred.

And if the auenger of blood pursue after him, they shall not deliuer the slaier into his hand because hee smote his neighbour ignorantly, neither hated he him before time:

6 He shall remain in that town until he has received a public trial and a verdict has been given, and until the death of the high priest of the time. Then he is free to return to his home, back to the town from where he ran away.’”

But hee shall dwell in that citie vntill hee stande before the Congregation in iudgement, or vntill the death of the hie Priest that shall be in those daies: then shall the slaier returne, and come vnto his owne citie, and vnto his owne house, euen vnto the citie from whence he fled.

7 So they assigned the following sanctuary towns: Kedesh of Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Kiriath-arba (or Hebron), in the hill country of Judah.

Then they appointed Kedesh in Galil in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba, (which is Hebron) in the mountaine of Iudah.

8 On the other side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, they assigned: Bezer, in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

And on the other side Iorden toward Iericho Eastward, they appoynted Bezer in the wildernesse vpon the plaine, 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 assigned towns for all the Israelites, as well as for the foreigners living among them. Anyone who unintentionally killed someone could go there so they would not be killed by those who wished to take revenge before they had received a public trial and been given a guilty verdict.

These were the cities appoynted for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that soiourned among them, that whosoeuer killed any person ignorantly, might flee thither, and not die by the hande of the auenger of blood, vntill hee stoode before the Congregation.