Iosue 20
1 et locutus est Dominus ad Iosue dicens loquere filiis Israhel et dic eis
Then Yahweh said to Joshua,
2 separate urbes fugitivorum de quibus locutus sum ad vos per manum Mosi
“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, 'Appoint the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses.
3 ut confugiat ad eas quicumque animam percusserit nescius et possit evadere iram proximi qui ultor est sanguinis
Do this so that one who unintentionally kills a person can go there. These cities will be a place of refuge from anyone who seeks to avenge the blood of a person who was killed.
4 cum ad unam harum confugerit civitatum stabitque ante portam civitatis et loquetur senioribus urbis illius ea quae se conprobent innocentem sicque suscipient eum et dabunt ei locum ad habitandum
He will run to one of those cities and will stand at the entrance of the city gate, and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they will take him into the city and give him a place for him to live among them.
5 cumque ultor sanguinis eum fuerit persecutus non tradent in manus eius quia ignorans percussit proximum eius nec ante biduum triduumve eius probatur inimicus
If one of them comes to try to avenge the blood of the person who was killed, then the people of the city must not hand the one who killed him over to the authorities. They must not do this because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and he had no hatred toward him in the past.
6 et habitabit in civitate illa donec stet ante iudicium causam reddens facti sui et moriatur sacerdos magnus qui fuerit in illo tempore tunc revertetur homicida et ingredietur civitatem et domum suam de qua fugerat
He must stay in that city until he has stood before the assembly for judgment, until the death of the one who was serving as high priest in those days. Then the one who had accidentally killed the person may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'”
7 decreveruntque Cedes in Galilea montis Nepthali et Sychem in monte Ephraim et Cariatharbe ipsa est Hebron in monte Iuda
So the Israelites selected Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (the same as Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
8 et trans Iordanem contra orientalem plagam Hiericho statuerunt Bosor quae sita est in campestri solitudine de tribu Ruben et Ramoth in Galaad de tribu Gad et Gaulon in Basan de tribu Manasse
Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they selected Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau from the tribe of Reuben; Ramoth Gilead, from the tribe of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.
9 hae civitates constitutae sunt cunctis filiis Israhel et advenis qui habitant inter eos ut fugeret ad eas qui animam nescius percussisset et non moreretur in manu proximi effusum sanguinem vindicare cupientis donec staret ante populum expositurus causam suam
These were the cities selected for all the people of Israel and for the foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who killed a person unintentionally could run to them for safety. This person would not die by the hand of the one who wanted to avenge the blood that was shed, until the accused person would first stand before the assembly.
