Joshua 20
New King James Version
The Cities of Refuge(A)
20 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: (B)‘Appoint[a] for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 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. 5 (C)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. 6 And he shall dwell in that city (D)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.’ ”
7 So they appointed (E)Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, (F)Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and (G)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in (H)the mountains of Judah. 8 And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned (I)Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, (J)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and (K)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 (L)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 (M)until he stood before the congregation.
Footnotes
- Joshua 20:2 Designate
- Joshua 20:4 states
- Joshua 20:9 As a resident alien
Joshua 20
English Standard Version
The Cities of Refuge
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Say to the people of Israel, (A)‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand (B)at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. 6 And he shall remain in that city (C)until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”
7 So they set apart (D)Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and (E)Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and (F)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) (G)in the hill country of Judah. 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed (H)Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and (I)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and (J)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and (K)for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.
Josua 20
Schlachter 1951
Die sechs Freistädte
20 Und der Herr redete zu Josua und sprach: 2 Sage den Kindern Israel und sprich: Bestimmet euch die Freistädte, von denen ich euch durch Mose gesagt habe, 3 daß dahin fliehen möge der Totschläger, der eine Seele unvorsätzlich und unversehens schlägt, damit sie euch als Zuflucht vor dem Bluträcher dienen.
4 Und wer zu einer dieser Städte flieht, der soll draußen vor dem Stadttor stehen und seine Sache vor die Ältesten dieser Stadt bringen; dann sollen sie ihn zu sich in die Stadt nehmen und ihm Platz geben, daß er bei ihnen wohnen kann. 5 Und wenn der Bluträcher ihm nachjagt, so sollen sie den Totschläger nicht in seine Hände übergeben, weil er unabsichtlich seinen Nächsten erschlagen hat und ihm zuvor nicht feind gewesen ist; 6 so soll er in jener Stadt wohnen, bis er vor der Gemeinde vor Gericht gestanden hat, und bis der Hohepriester stirbt, der zu derselben Zeit [im Amte] sein wird. Alsdann soll der Totschläger wieder umkehren und in seine Stadt gehen und in sein Haus, in die Stadt, daraus er geflohen ist.
7 Da sonderten sie aus: Kedesch in Galiläa auf dem Gebirge Naphtali, und Sichem auf dem Gebirge Ephraim, und Kirjat-Arba, das ist Hebron, auf dem Gebirge Juda. 8 Und jenseits des Jordan, östlich von Jericho, bestimmten sie Bezer in der Wüste, auf der Ebene, vom Stamme Ruben, und Ramot in Gilead vom Stamme Gad, und Golan in Basan vom Stamme Manasse. 9 Dies waren die bestimmten Städte für alle Kinder Israel, auch für die Fremdlinge, die unter ihnen wohnten, damit dahin fliehen könne, wer eine Seele unvorsätzlich erschlagen hatte, daß er nicht sterbe durch die Hand des Bluträchers, ehe er vor der Gemeinde gestanden.
Joshua 20
Expanded Bible
Cities of Safety
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] to ·choose [designate] the special cities of ·safety [refuge], as I had Moses command you to do [Num. 35:1–8]. 3 If a person kills someone accidentally and without meaning to kill him, that person may go to a city of ·safety [refuge] to hide. There the killer will be safe from the ·relative who has the duty of punishing a murderer [near-relative; L avenger of blood].
4 “When the killer ·runs [flees] to one of those cities, he must stop at the entrance ·gate [L of the city gate], stand there, and tell the ·leaders of the people [L elders of that city] what happened [C the council of leaders met at the city gate and held trials there; Deut. 21:19; Ruth 4:1]. Then that person will be allowed to enter the city and will be given a place to live among them. 5 But if the ·one who is chasing him [near-relative; L avenger of blood] follows him to that city, ·the leaders of the city [L they] must not hand over the ·killer [manslayer]. It was an accident. He did not hate him beforehand or kill him on purpose. 6 ·The killer [L He] must stay in the city until ·a court comes to a decision [L he stands before the congregation for judgment] and until the high priest dies [Num. 35:25–28; C the high priest’s death may have marked a general amnesty]. Then he may go back home to the town from which he ran away.”
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 [L beyond 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 [L stood before the congregation], by the ·relative who had the duty of punishing a murderer [near-relative; L avenger of blood].
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
Copyright © 1951 by Geneva Bible Society
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.