Cities of Refuge Are Established

¹ And Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying,

² “Speak to the ⌞Israelites⌟,¹ saying, ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through the hand of Moses.

1. Literally “sons/children of Israel”

³ Anyone who kills a person by accident or unintentionally¹ may flee there; they will be for yourselves a refuge from the avenger of blood.

1. Or “by not knowing”

⁴ The killer will flee to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and ⌞state his case to the elders of that city⌟;¹ and they will take him² into the city and give him a place, and he will dwell among them.

1. Literally “he will speak his words in the ears of the elders of that city”
2. Or “they will gather him”

⁵ And if the avenger of blood pursues after him, they will not hand over the killer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and ⌞he did not hate him previously⌟.¹

1. Literally “he did not hate him since yesterday and the day before that”

⁶ The killer will stay in that city until he stands before the congregation for the trial, until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then ⌞the killer will return⌟¹ to his city and to his house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

1. Literally “the killer will return and go”

⁷ So ⌞they set apart⌟¹ Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba² (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

1. Or “consecrated”
2. Or “the city of Arba”

⁸ Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the plateau, from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹ These were the cities designated for all the ⌞Israelites⌟,¹ and for the foreigners² dwelling among them, for anyone that kills a person unintentionally to flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, ⌞until there is a trial⌟³ before the congregation.

1. Literally “sons/children of Israel”
2. Hebrew “foreigner”
3. Literally “until he stands”