Josué 20

1 Falou mais o Senhor a Josué, dizendo:

Then Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 Fala aos filhos de Israel, dizendo: apartai-vos as cidades de refúgio, de que vos falei pelo ministério de Moisés:

“Tell the Israeli people that they should choose some cities to which people [can run] in order to be safe/protected, like I told Moses that they should do.

3 Para que fuja para ali o homicida, que matar alguma pessoa por erro, e não com intento: para que vos sejam por refúgio do vingador do sangue.

If someone kills another person accidentally, not intending to kill that person, the one who killed that person may run/escape to one of these cities and be safe/protected from someone trying to get revenge for that person’s death [MTY].

4 E, fugindo para alguma daquelas cidades, por-se-á à porta da cidade, e proporá as suas palavras perante os ouvidos dos anciãos da tal cidade: então o tomarão consigo na cidade: e lhe darão lugar, para que habite com eles

When the one who killed someone arrives at the gate of one of those cities, he must stop there and tell the leaders of the city what happened. [If they believe him], they must allow him to enter the city, and they must give him a place to live among them.

5 E, se o vingador do sangue o seguir, não entregarão na sua mão o homicida: porquanto não feriu a seu próximo com intento, e o não aborreceu de antes.

If some relative of the one who was killed comes to that city to get revenge, the leaders of that city must not allow the relative to take the killer, because what happened was accidental. He did not hate that person and as a result deliberately kill him.

6 E habitará na mesma cidade, até que se ponha a juízo perante a congregação, até que morra o sumo sacerdote que houver naqueles dias: então o homicida voltará, e virá à sua cidade, e à sua casa, à cidade de onde fugiu.

But the person who killed someone must stay in that city until the city judges put him on trial. [Only if the judges decide that the person who has run/escaped to their city did not deliberately kill the other person will they allow him to stay in that city], and he must stay there until the Supreme Priest dies. Then he may safely go back to his own town, [because the death of the Supreme Priest will be considered to atone/pay for the death of the person who was killed].”

7 Então apartaram a Kedes em Galiléia, na montanha de Naphtali, e a Sichem na montanha de Ephraim, e a Kiriath-arba, esta é Hebron, na montanha de Judá.

So the Israelis chose these cities to be cities to which people could run to be safe/protected: Kedesh in the Galilee district in the hilly area where the tribe of Naphtali lived; Shechem in the hilly area where the tribe of Ephraim lived; Kiriath-Arba (which is [now named] Hebron) in the hilly area where the tribe of Judah lived;

8 E, de além do Jordão de Jericó para o oriente, apartaram a Beser, no deserto, na campina da tribo de Ruben, e a Ramoth em Gilead da tribo de Gad, e a Golan em Basan da tribo de Manasseh.

Bezer, on the east side of the Jordan [River] near Jericho, in the flat land in the desert where the tribe of Reuben lived; Ramoth in the Gilead [region] in the land where the tribe of Gad lived; and Golan in the Bashan region where the tribe of Manasseh lived.

9 Estas são as cidades que foram designadas para todos os filhos de Israel, e para o estrangeiro que andasse entre eles; para que se acolhesse a elas todo aquele que ferisse alguma pessoa por erro: para que não morresse às mãos do vingador do sangue, até se pôr diante da congregação.

Any Israeli or any foreigner who lived among us, anyone who killed someone (accidentally/without planning to do it), was allowed to run to one of those cities, and be safe/protected from some relative of the person who died coming there and killing him to get revenge. He could stay in that city until there was a trial there [to decide whether he was telling the truth or not when he said that he did not plan to kill that person].