Joshua 20

Cities of Refuge

20Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, ²“Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, ⁿ³so that a person who kills someone unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ^o4When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before ^pthe elders of that city, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them. ^q5And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, for he killed his neighbor accidentally and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. ^rThen the one who committed manslaughter may return home to his own city from which he fled.”

⁷So they designated Kedesh in the hill country of Naphtali in Galilee, ^sShechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ^t8Across the Jordan east of Jericho, they selected Bezer on the wilderness plateau from Reuben’s tribe, Ramoth in Gilead from Gad’s tribe, and Golan in Bashan from Manasseh’s tribe.

⁹These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, ^uso that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.