Joshua Chapter 20

Cities of Refuge

¹ Then the LORD said to Joshua,

² “Have the people establish the cities of refuge I spoke to you about through Moses, ³ so anyone that kills somebody accidentally can flee there from an avenger. ⁴ Standing at the entrance to the city gate, the slayer will explain his case to the elders, and they’ll provide a place to stay in the city. ⁵ They won’t betray the slayer to any avenger because the death was an accident, no previous animosity involved. ⁶ The slayer will stay in that city for judgment till the death of the current high priest, and then go back home.”

⁷ They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ East of Jericho and the Jordan, they designated Bezer on the tableland in Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead in Gad, and Golan in Bashan in Manasseh. ⁹ They designated those towns for Israelites and foreigners among them to flee to, so the avenger of blood couldn’t take revenge before the slayer could stand in public trial.                                                                     

Josh 20:1-9