Joshua 20
1 Then the Lord told Joshua,
And the Lord spak to Josue, and seide, Spek thou to the sones of Israel, and seie thou to hem,
2 “Tell the Israelites, ‘Assign sanctuary towns, as I instructed you through Moses.
Departe ye the citees of fugytyues, `ether of men exilid for vnwilful schedyng of blood, of whiche citees Y spak to you bi the hond of Moises,
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 whoeuer sleeth vnwytyngli a man, fle to tho citees;
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.
that whanne he hath fled to oon of these citees, he may ascape the ire of the neiybore, which is veniere of blood. And he schal stonde bifor the yatis of the citee, and he schal speke to the eldre men of that citee tho thingis that schulen preue hym innocent; and so thei schulen reseyue hym, and schulen yyue to hym place to dwelle.
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 whanne the vengere of blood pursueth hym, thei schulen not bitake hym in to the hondis of the vengere; for vnwityngli he killide his neiybore, and is not preued his enemy bifor the secounde dai ethir the thridde dai.
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 schal dwelle in that citee, til he stonde bifor the doom, and yelde cause of his dede. And he that killide a man, dwelle `in that citee, til the grete preest die, which is in that tyme; thanne the mansleere schal turne ayen, and he schal entre in to his citee and hows, `fro which he fledde.
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 thei ordeyneden Cedes in Galilee, of the hil of Neptalym, and Sichem in the hil of Effraym, and Cariatharbe, thilke is Ebron, in the hil of Juda.
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 biyende Jordan, ayens the eest coost of Jerico, thei ordeyneden Bosor, which is set in the feeldi wildirnesse of the lynage of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad, of the lynage of Gad, and Gaulon in Basan, of the lynage of Manasses.
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 citees weren ordeyned to alle the sones of Israel, and to comelyngis that dwellen among hem, that he that killide vnwityngli a man, schulde fle to tho citees; and he schulde not die in the hond of neiybore, coueitynge to venge the blood sched out, til he stood bifor the puple, to declare his cause.
