Yoshua 20
1 Baada ya hayo, Yahweh akamwambia Yoshua,
And Jehovah spoke to Joshua, saying,
2 “Waambia watu wa Israeli, na kusema, 'Chagueni miji ya makimbilio ambayo niliwaambia kupitia kwa Musa.
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Assign for you the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses,
3 Fanyeni hivi ili mtu akiua mtu bila kukusudia aweze kwenda huko. Miji hii itakuwa ni sehemu ya kukimbilia kutoka kwa mtu yeyote yule anayetaka kulipiza kisasi kwa damu ya mtu aliyeuliwa.
that the manslayer who kills any soul unwittingly and unawares may flee there. And they shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 Atakimbilia kwa mji mmoja miongoni mwa miji hiyo na atasimama mlangoni mwa lango la mji, na ataeleza kesi yake kwa wazee wa mji ule. Kisha watamwingiza ndani ya mji na watampatia sehemu yake ya kuishi miongoni mwao.
And he shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his case in the ears of the elders of that city. And they shall take him into the city to them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
5 Na kama mtu akija akataka kulipiza kisasi kwa damu ya mtu yule ambaye aliuliwa, ndipo watu wa mji hawatatakiwa kumtoa kwa wenye mamlaka mtu huyo aliyeua. Hawaruhusiwi kufanya hivyo kwasababu alimwua jirani bila kukusudia na hakuwa na chuki naye hapo awali.
And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unawares, and did not hate him formerly.
6 Ni lazima akae katika mji ule mpaka pale atakapokuwa amesimama mbele ya kusanyiko kwa ajili ya kuhukumiwa, hadi pale atakapokufa mtu yule anayetumika katika nafasi ya kuhani mkuu katka siku hizo. Na kisha mtu yule aliyeua bila kukusudia aweza kurudi nyumbani kwake, katika mji ule ulikotoka.
And he shall dwell in that city, until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest who shall be in those days. Then the manslayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city from where he fled.
7 Kwahiyo, Waisraeli wakaichaguia Kedeshi iliyoko Galilaya katika nchi ya milima ya Nafutali, Shekemu katika nchi ya milima ya Efraimu, na Kiriathi Arba (ambayo ndio Herbroni) katika nchi ya milima ya Yuda.
And they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill-country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah.
8 Katika ng'ambo ya Yordani mashariki mwa Yeriko, walichagua mji wa Bezeri huko nyikani katika nyanda za kabila la Rubeni; na Ramothi Gileadi kutoka kabila la Gadi; na Golani katika Bashani, kutoka katika kabila la Manase.
And beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain 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 Hii ni miji iliyochaguliwa kwa ajili ya watu wote wa Israeli na kwa ajili ya wageni wanaoishi miongoni mwao, ili kwamba mtu yeyote amwuaye mtu bila kukusudia aweza kukimbilia huko kwa ajili ya kupata usalama. Mtu huyu hatakufa kwa mkono wa mtu yule anayetake kulipiza kisasi cha damu iliyomwagwa, mpaka hapo kwanza mtuhumiwa atakaposimama mbele ya kusanyiko la watu.
These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever kills any soul unwittingly might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
