¹⁰ “^(A)Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ^11 (B)then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your ^(C)cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has ^[a]killed any person ^(D)unintentionally may flee there. ^12 (E)The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for ^[b]trial. ¹³ The cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You ^(F)shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities ^[c]in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel, and for the alien and for the sojourner among them; that anyone who ^[d]kills a person ^(G)unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶ ‘^(H)But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷ If he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer ^(I)shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he might die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. ^20 (J)If he pushed him of hatred, or threw something at him ^(K)lying in wait and as a result he died, ²¹ or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death, he is a murderer; the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² ‘^(L)But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or threw something at him without lying in wait, ²³ or with any ^[e]deadly object of stone, and without seeing it dropped on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury, ²⁴ then ^(M)the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these ordinances. ²⁵ The congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee, ²⁷ and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood ²⁸ because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession.

²⁹ ‘These things shall be for a ^(N)statutory ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

³⁰ ‘^(O)If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the ^[f]evidence of witnesses, but ^(P)no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. ³¹ Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. ³² You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land ^[g]before the death of the priest. ^33 (Q)So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except ^(R)by the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴ You shall not ^(S)defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which ^(T)I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

Cities of Refuge

19 “^(A)When the Lord your God cuts off the nations, whose land the Lord your God gives you, and you dispossess them and settle in their cities and in their houses, ^2 (B)you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the Lord your God gives you to ^[a]possess. ³ You shall prepare the ^[b]roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the Lord your God will give you as a possession, ^[c]so that any manslayer may flee there.

⁴ “^(C)Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he ^[d]kills his friend ^[e]unintentionally, ^[f]not hating him previously— ⁵ as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand ^[g]swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the ^[h]handle and ^[i]strikes his friend so that he dies—he may flee to one of these cities and live; ⁶ otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer ^[j]in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and ^[k]take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously. ⁷ Therefore, I command you, saying, ‘You shall set aside three cities for yourself.’

⁸ “If the Lord your God ^(D)enlarges your territory, just as He has sworn to your fathers, and gives you all the land which He ^[l]promised to give your fathers— ⁹ if you ^[m]carefully observe all this commandment which I command you today, ^(E)to love the Lord your God, and to walk in His ways always—^(F)then you shall add three more cities for yourself, besides these three. ¹⁰ So innocent blood will not be shed in the midst of your land which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, and ^(G)bloodguiltiness be on you.

¹¹ “But ^(H)if there is a man who hates his neighbor and lies in wait for him and rises up against him and strikes ^[n]him so that he dies, and he flees to one of these cities, ¹² then the elders of his city shall send and take him from there and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die. ^13 [o](I)You shall not pity him, but ^(J)you shall purge the blood of the innocent from Israel, that it may go well with you.

Six Cities of Refuge

20 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘^[a]Designate ^(A)the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you ^[b]through Moses, ³ that the manslayer who ^[c]kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the ^(B)gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall ^[d]take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them. ⁵ Now ^(C)if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ He shall dwell in that city ^(D)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall ^[e]return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”

⁷ So they ^[f]set apart ^(E)Kedesh in ^[g]Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in ^(F)the hill country of Judah. ⁸ Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they ^[h]designated Bezer in the wilderness on 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 (G)These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever ^[i]kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.