Joshua 20
Modern English Version
Cities of Refuge(A)
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the children of Israel, ‘Choose refuge cities, as I told you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person without intent and unknowingly may flee there. They shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 “ ‘The refugee can flee to one of these cities then stand at the entrance of the city gate and tell his case to the city elders. They will take him into the city and give him a place to stay, and he will live with them. 5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they shall not hand over the manslayer to him, for he struck down his neighbor unintentionally with no premeditated malice. 6 He shall live in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his home and to his city from which he had fled.’ ”
7 They selected Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 Across the Jordan east of Jericho, they selected Bezer in the wilderness plain from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities designated for all the children of Israel and resident foreigners living among them, to which anyone who killed someone inadvertently could flee and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
Joshua 20
21st Century King James Version
20 The Lord also spoke unto Joshua, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses,
3 that the slayer who killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.
5 And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand, because he smote his neighbor unwittingly and hated him not beforehand.
6 And he shall dwell in that city until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest who shall be in those days. Then shall the slayer return and come unto his own city and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.’”
7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in Mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba (which is Hebron) in the mountain of Judah.
8 And on the other side of the Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon 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 These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stood before the congregation.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
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