⁷ So the Israelites chose these cities to be cities of ·safety [refuge]: Kedesh in Galilee in the ·mountains [hill country] of Naphtali; Shechem in the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim; Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron) in the ·mountains [hill country] of Judah; ⁸ Bezer ·on the east side of the Jordan River near [^Lbeyond the Jordan east of] Jericho in the ·desert [wilderness plain] in the land of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead in the land of Gad; and Golan in Bashan in the land of Manasseh. ⁹ Any Israelite or ·anyone living among them [resident alien; sojourner] who killed someone accidentally was to be allowed to run to one of these cities of ·safety [refuge]. There he would not be killed, before he ·was judged [^Lstood before the congregation], by the ·relative who had the duty of punishing a murderer [near-relative; ^Lavenger of blood].