Appointing Cities of Refuge for Slayers Until They Stand Trial |
Joshua 20:1-9 The Book of Joshua [in Smaller Chunks] |
The Lord also [said] to Joshua, Speak to the children [people] of Israel, saying, Appoint cities of refuge for you, [like] I [spoke] to you, [at] the hand of Moses. [So] the slayer [person who kills someone accidentally] may flee [there.] |
They shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. When [someone flees] to 1 of those cities, [he] shall stand at the gate of the [entrance] of the city & [shall state his case] in the ears of the [city’s] elders. |
They shall take him into the city & give him a place, [so] he may [stay] among them. If the avenger of blood [pursues] after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer [over to him,] because he [accidentally] killed his neighbor & [hadn’t] hated him [beforehand.] |
He shall [stay] in the city, until he [stands] before the congregation for judgment [or] until the death of the high priest [in charge, at the time.] Then the slayer may return to his own city [that he fled from] & [go to] his own house. |
They appointed the [cities of:] Kedesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali, Shechem in Mount Ephraim, Kirjath Arba, which is Hebron, in the [mountains] of Judah. |
On the other side [of the] Jordan [River] by the [east of] Jericho, they assigned [the cities of:] Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain [from] the tribe of Reuben, & Ramoth in Gilead [from] the tribe of Gad & Golan in Bashan [from] the tribe of Manasseh. |
These were the appointed cities for all the [people] of Israel & the stranger [who temporarily stays] among them. [So, whoever kills someone accidentally,] may flee [there] & not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he [stands] before the congregation. |