< Joshua 20 >

1 Then the Lord told Joshua,
And he spoke Yahweh to Joshua saying.
2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Assign sanctuary towns, as I instructed you through Moses.
Speak to [the] people of Israel saying assign for yourselves [the] cities of refuge which I spoke to 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.
To flee there towards a killer [who] strikes down a person by inadvertence with not knowledge and they will become for you a refuge from [the] avenger 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 will flee to one - of the cities these and he will stand [the] entrance of [the] gate of the city and he will speak in [the] ears of ([the] elders of the city *LA(bh)*) that words his and they will gather him the city towards to themselves and they will give to him a place and he will 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 he will pursue [the] avenger of blood after him and not they will deliver up the killer in hand his for with not knowledge he struck neighbor his and not [was] hating he him from yesterday [the] third day.
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.’”
And he will dwell - in the city that until stands he before the congregation for judgment until [the] death of the priest great who he will be in the days those then - he will return the killer and he will go to own city his and to own house his to the city where he fled from there.
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.
And they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in [the] hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in [the] hill country of Ephraim and Kiriath Arba that [is] Hebron in [the] hill country of Judah.
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 from [the] other side of [the] Jordan of Jericho east-ward they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain from [the] tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in Gilead from [the] tribe of Gad and (Golan *Q(K)*) in Bashan from [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 they were [the] cities of appointing for all - [the] people of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourns in midst of them to flee there towards any [one who] strikes down a person by inadvertence and not he will die by [the] hand of [the] avenger of blood until stands he before the congregation.

< Joshua 20 >