Joshua 20

1 And he spoke Yahweh to Joshua saying.

Then Yahweh said to Joshua,

2 Speak to [the] people of Israel saying assign for yourselves [the] cities of refuge which I spoke to you by [the] hand of Moses.

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

3 To flee there towards a killer [who] strikes down a person by inadvertence with not knowledge and they will become for you a refuge from [the] avenger of blood.

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 And he will flee to one - of the cities these and he will stand [the] entrance of [the] gate of the city and he will speak in [the] ears of [the] elders of the city that words his and they will gather him the city towards to themselves and they will give to him a place and he will dwell with them.

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 And if he will pursue [the] avenger of blood after him and not they will deliver up the killer in hand his for with not knowledge he struck neighbor his and not [was] hating he him from yesterday [the] third day.

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 And he will dwell - in the city that until stands he before the congregation for judgment until [the] death of the priest great who he will be in the days those then - he will return the killer and he will go to own city his and to own house his to the city where he fled from there.

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 And they set apart Kedesh in Galilee 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.

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 And from [the] other side of [the] Jordan of Jericho east-ward they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain from [the] tribe of Reuben and Ramoth in Gilead from [the] tribe of Gad and (Golan *QK) in Bashan from [the] tribe of Manasseh.

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 These they were [the] cities of appointing for all - [the] people of Israel and for the sojourner who sojourns in midst of them to flee there towards any [one who] strikes down a person by inadvertence and not he will die by [the] hand of [the] avenger of blood until stands he before the congregation.

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.