Cities of Refuge East of the Jordan

41 Then Moses (A)set apart three cities on this side of the Jordan, toward the rising of the sun,

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Cities of Refuge(A)

41 Then Moses set aside three cities east of the Jordan,

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“Now among the cities which you will give to the Levites you shall appoint (A)six cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. And to these you shall add forty-two cities.

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Cities of Refuge(A)

“Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee.(B) In addition, give them forty-two other towns.

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14 (A)You shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities you shall appoint in the land of Canaan, which will be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, (B)for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.

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14 Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. 15 These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

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“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: (A)‘Appoint[a] for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and [b]declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. (B)Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. And he shall dwell in that city (C)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

So they appointed (D)Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, (E)Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and (F)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in (G)the mountains of Judah. And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned (H)Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, (I)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and (J)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. (K)These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who [c]dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood (L)until he stood before the congregation.

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 20:2 Designate
  2. Joshua 20:4 states
  3. Joshua 20:9 As a resident alien

“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally(A) may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.(B) When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate(C) and state their case before the elders(D) of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly(E) and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

So they set apart Kedesh(F) in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem(G) in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba(H) (that is, Hebron(I)) in the hill country of Judah.(J) East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer(K) in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead(L) in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan(M) in the tribe of Manasseh. Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally(N) could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.(O)

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