²⁵ And then a certain lawyer arose to try (test, tempt) Him, saying, Teacher, what am I to do to inherit everlasting life [that is, to partake of eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?

²⁶ Jesus said to him, What is written in the Law? How do you read it?

²⁷ And he replied, You must love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.^(A)

²⁸ And Jesus said to him, You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live [enjoy active, blessed, endless life in the kingdom of God].

²⁹ And he, ^[a]determined to acquit himself of reproach, said to Jesus, And who is my neighbor?

³⁰ Jesus, ^[b]taking him up, replied, A certain man was going from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him of his clothes and belongings and beat him and went their way, [^[c]unconcernedly] leaving him half dead, as it happened.

³¹ Now by ^[d]coincidence a certain priest was going down along that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.

³² A Levite likewise came down to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side [of the road].

³³ But a certain Samaritan, as he traveled along, came down to where he was; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity and sympathy [for him],

³⁴ And went to him and dressed his wounds, pouring on [them] oil and wine. Then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

³⁵ And the next day he took out two denarii [two day’s wages] and gave [them] to the innkeeper, saying, Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, I [myself] will repay you when I return.

³⁶ Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?

³⁷ He answered, The one who showed pity and mercy to him. And Jesus said to him, Go and do likewise.

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20 The Lord said also to Joshua,

² Say to the Israelites, Appoint among you cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

³ That the slayer who kills anyone accidentally and unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.^(A)

⁴ He who flees to one of those cities shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city; they shall receive him to [the protection of] that city and give him a place to dwell among them.

⁵ If the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally, having had no hatred for him previously.

⁶ And he shall dwell in that city until he has been tried before the congregation and until the death of him who is the high priest in those days. Then the slayer shall return to his own city from which he fled and to his own house.

⁷ And they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸ Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they appointed Bezer in the wilderness tableland 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 cities were for all the Israelites and the stranger sojourning among them, that whoever killed a person unintentionally might flee there and not be slain by the avenger of blood until he had been tried before the congregation.

21 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Israelite tribes.

² They said to them at Shiloh in Canaan, The Lord commanded through Moses that we should be given cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands (suburbs) for our cattle.

³ So the Israelites gave to the Levites out of their own inheritance, at the command of the Lord, these cities and their suburbs.

⁴ The [first] lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those ^[a]Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin thirteen cities.

⁵ And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ten cities.

⁶ The Gershonites received by lot from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan thirteen cities.

⁷ The Merarites received according to their families from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun twelve cities.

⁸ The Israelites gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasturelands (suburbs), as the Lord commanded through Moses.

⁹ They gave from the tribes of Judah and Simeon the cities here mentioned by name,

¹⁰ Which went to the families of the descendants of Aaron, of the Kohathite branch of the Levites, for the lot fell to them first.

¹¹ They gave them [the city of] Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its pasturelands round about it.

¹² But the city’s fields and villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his own.

¹³ Thus to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasturelands (suburbs), and together with their suburbs, Libnah,

¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa,

¹⁵ Holon, Debir,

¹⁶ Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh; nine cities, each with its suburbs, out of those two tribes.

¹⁷ Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon, Geba,

¹⁸ Anathoth, and Almon; four cities, each with its suburbs.

¹⁹ The cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen, with their suburbs.

²⁰ The rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Levitical families were allotted cities out of the tribe of Ephraim.

²¹ To them were given, each with its pasturelands (suburbs), Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, as the city of refuge for the slayer, and Gezer,

²² And Kibzaim, and Beth-horon; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).

²³ And out of the tribe of Dan, each with its pasturelands (suburbs), Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

²⁴ Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).

²⁵ And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach, and [another] Gath-rimmon; two cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).

²⁶ All the cities for the families of the remaining Kohathites were ten, with their pasturelands (suburbs).

²⁷ And to the Gershonites of the families of the Levites they gave out of the other half-tribe of Manasseh the city of Golan in Bashan, as the city of refuge for the slayer, and Be-eshterah; two cities, each with its pasturelands.

²⁸ Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, Daberath,

²⁹ Jarmuth, and En-gannim; four cities, each with its suburbs.

³⁰ Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal, Abdon,

³¹ Helkath, and Rehob; four cities, each with its pasturelands.

³² And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, city of refuge for the slayer, and Hammoth-dor, and Kartan; three cities, each with its suburbs.

³³ All the cities of the Gershonite families were thirteen, with their pasturelands (suburbs).

³⁴ And to the families of the Merarites, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun were given Jokneam, Kartah,

³⁵ Dimnah, and Nahalal; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).

³⁶ And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer, Jahaz,

³⁷ Kedemoth, and Mephaath; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).

³⁸ And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, as the city of refuge for the slayer, and Mahanaim,

³⁹ Heshbon, and Jazer; four cities in all, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).

⁴⁰ So all the cities allotted to the Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the Levite families, were twelve cities.

⁴¹ The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the Israelites were forty-eight cities in all, with their pasturelands (suburbs).

⁴² These cities all had their pasturelands (suburbs) around them.

⁴³ And the Lord gave to Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and dwelt in it.

⁴⁴ The Lord gave them rest round about, just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies withstood them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hands.

⁴⁵ There failed no part of any good thing which the Lord had promised to the house of Israel; all came to pass.