Jos 20 | NASB1995 | STEP | Then the Lord spoke to Joshua , saying ,

Joshua 20

Six Cities of Refuge

1 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘ ^{▼▼ Lit Set for yourselves}Designate ^bthe cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you ^{▼▼ Lit by the hand of}through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who ^{▼▼ Lit smites}kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 ‘He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the ^egate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall ^{▼▼ Lit gather}take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. 5 ‘Now ^gif the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. 6 ‘He shall dwell in that city ^huntil he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall ^{▼▼ Lit return and come}return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”

7 So they ^{▼▼ Lit sanctified}set apart ^kKedesh in ^{▼▼ Heb Galil}Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in ^mthe hill country of Judah. 8 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they ^{▼▼ Lit set}designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 ^oThese were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever ^{▼▼ Lit smites}kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.