20:1 Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,
20:2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘ ①Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you ②through Moses,
▷ ①Lit Give for yourselves ②Lit by the hand of
20:3 so that one who commits manslaughter by ①killing a person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood.
▷ ①Lit striking
20:4 Then he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and state his case in the ①presence of the elders of that city; and they shall ②receive him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may remain among them.
▷ ①Lit ears of ②Lit gather
20:5 Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they are not to hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, since he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him previously.
20:6 And he shall remain in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then ①he shall ②return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”
▷ ①Lit the one who committed manslaughter ②Lit return and come
20:7 So they ①set apart Kedesh in ②Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
▷ ①Lit sanctified ②Heb Galil
20:8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they ①designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
▷ ①Lit gave
20:9 These were the designated cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, so that whoever ①kills a person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.
▷ ①Lit strikes