20 2 The Lord commandeth Joshua to appoint cities of refuge. 3 The use thereof, 7 and their names.
1 The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying,
2 Speak to the children of Israel, and say, (A)Appoint you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses,
3 That the slayer that killeth any person [a]by ignorance, and unwittingly, may flee thither, and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 And he that doth flee unto one of those cities, shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall show his cause [b]to the Elders of the city: and they shall receive him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell with them.
5 And if the [c]avenger of blood pursue after him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he smote his neighbor ignorantly, neither hated he him beforetime:
6 But he shall dwell in that city until he stand before the Congregation in [d]judgment, (B)or until the death of the high Priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, even unto the city from whence he fled.
7 ¶ Then they appointed Kedesh in [e]Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath Arba, (which is Hebron) in the mountain of Judah.
8 And on the other side Jordan toward Jericho Eastward, they appointed (C)Bezer in the wilderness upon 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 [f]tribe of Manasseh.
9 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourned among them, that whosoever killed any person ignorantly, might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the [g]Congregation.
Footnotes
- Joshua 20:3 At unawares, and bearing him no grudge.
- Joshua 20:4 Hebrew, in the ears of the Elders.
- Joshua 20:5 That is, the nearest kinsman of him that is slain.
- Joshua 20:6 Till his cause were proved.
- Joshua 20:7 Or, Galilee.
- Joshua 20:8 Out of the half tribe of Manasseh beyond Jordan.
- Joshua 20:9 Before the Judges.