THE BOOK OF
JOSHUA.
Joshua 20 ©
The command of the LORD concerning the six cities of refuge, for those who unawares would slay a man, v. 1. etc. And the right use of the same, 5. The Israelites appoint hereunto six cities, three on this, and three on the other side of Jordan, 7.
THE LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying,
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you 1cities of refuge, whereofa I spake unto you 2by the hand of Moses:
That the slayer that killeth any 3person unawares and 4unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge 5from the avenger of blood.
And whenb he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand 6at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare 7his cause in the ears of the 8elders of that city, 9they shall 10take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not 11beforetime.
And he shall dwell in that city, 12until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and 13until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: 14then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.
¶And they 15appointed 16Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, 17in the mountain of Judah.
And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned 18Bezerc in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.
These were the 19cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawaresd might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, 20until he stood before the congregation.