Jozue 20

1 Yawe alobaki na Jozue:

Then Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 « Yebisa bana ya Isalaele ete bapona bingumba ya kokimela, ndenge nayebisaki bino na nzela ya Moyize,

“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, 'Appoint the cities of refuge of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses.

3 mpo ete moto nyonso oyo akoboma moto na nko te akoka kokimela kuna mpe azwa ebombamelo liboso ya mobukanisi makila.

Do this so that one who unintentionally kills a person can go there. These cities will be a place of refuge from anyone who seeks to avenge the blood of a person who was killed.

4 Soki akimeli kati na moko ya bingumba wana, akotelema na ekotelo ya ekuke ya engumba mpe akotalisa likambo na ye epai ya bampaka ya engumba wana. Bongo bampaka bakoyamba moto yango kati na engumba mpe bakopesa ye esika ya kovanda elongo na bango.

He will run to one of those cities and will stand at the entrance of the city gate, and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they will take him into the city and give him a place for him to live among them.

5 Soki mobukanisi makila alandi ye, bampaka basengeli te kokaba mobomi yango na maboko na ye, pamba te abomaki mozalani na ye na nko te mpe azalaki liboso na makanisi ya mabe te.

If one of them comes to try to avenge the blood of the person who was killed, then the people of the city must not hand the one who killed him over to the authorities. They must not do this because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, and he had no hatred toward him in the past.

6 Akotikala na engumba wana kino tango akoleka na esambiselo liboso ya lisanga mpe kino tango mokonzi ya Banganga-Nzambe oyo azali na mosala na tango wana, akokufa. Na sima na yango nde mobomi yango akoki kozonga na engumba na ye, na ndako na ye, kati na engumba epai wapi awuta. »

He must stay in that city until he has stood before the assembly for judgment, until the death of the one who was serving as high priest in those days. Then the one who had accidentally killed the person may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'”

7 Bana ya Isalaele babulisaki Kedeshi, kati na Galile, kati na mokili ya bangomba ya Nefitali; Sishemi, kati na mokili ya bangomba ya Efrayimi, mpe Kiriati-Ariba oyo ezali Ebron, kati na mokili ya bangomba ya Yuda.

So the Israelites selected Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (the same as Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

8 Na ngambo mosusu ya Yordani, na este ya Jeriko, baponaki Betseri kati na esobe, na likolo ya ngomba ya libota ya Ribeni; Ramoti kati na Galadi, kati na etuka ya libota ya Gadi; mpe Golani kati na Bashani, kati na etuka ya libota ya Manase.

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

9 Yango nde ezalaki bingumba oyo eponamaki mpo na moto nyonso ya Isalaele to mpe mpo na mopaya nyonso oyo azali kovanda kati na bango. Moto nyonso oyo akoboma moto na nko te akoki kokimela kuna, mpo ete mobukanisi makila aboma ye te, liboso ete aleka na esambiselo na miso ya lisanga.

These were the cities selected for all the people of Israel and for the foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who killed a person unintentionally could run to them for safety. This person would not die by the hand of the one who wanted to avenge the blood that was shed, until the accused person would first stand before the assembly.