Chapter 20

The LORD also spake¹⁷ unto Joshua, saying,²

Speak¹⁶ to the children of Israel, saying,² Appoint³ out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake¹⁴ unto you by the hand of Moses:

That the slayer⁶ that killeth⁵⁶ [any] person unawares [and] unwittingly may flee² thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger⁶ of blood.

And when he that doth flee¹ unto one of those cities shall stand¹ at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare¹⁴ his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take¹ him into the city unto them, and give¹ him a place, that he may dwell¹ among them.

And if the avenger⁶ of blood pursue⁴ after him, then they shall not deliver⁵⁵ the slayer⁶ up into his hand; because he smote⁵² his neighbour unwittingly, ¹⁸⁴⁷ and hated⁶ him not beforetime. ⁸⁰³²

And he shall dwell¹ in that city, until he stand² before the congregation for judgment, [and] until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer⁶ return,⁴ and come¹ unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.¹

And they appointed⁵⁵ Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which [is] Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned¹ 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 tribe of Manasseh.

These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth⁶ among them, that whosoever killeth⁵⁶ [any] person at unawares might flee² thither, and not die⁴ by the hand of the avenger⁶ of blood, until he stood² before the congregation.