Joshua 20

The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying,

1The LORD spoke to Joshua and said this to him.

2Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:

2"Tell the people of Israel to choose the safe cities. I told Moses about them long ago, and he told you."

3That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

3"If someone kills a person by accident, he can run there. He did not mean to do it. Those cities will keep him safe from the family member who wants to pay him back."

Note"The avenger of blood" was a close relative of the person who died. In those days it was his job to chase the one who caused the death.

4And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering 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.

4"He must run to one of those cities. He stands at the city gate and tells his story. He tells it to the leaders of that city. Then they let him come in. They give him a place to live with them."

5And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime.

5"The family member may come chasing after him. But the city leaders must not hand him over. He hurt his neighbor by accident. He had not hated him before this happened."

Note"Smote" is an old word that means hit or struck. Here it means the man caused his neighbor's death without meaning to.

6And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that 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.

6"He must stay in that city until the people meet and decide his case. He must also stay until the high priest of that time dies. The high priest was the leader of all the priests. Then the man may go back home. He may return to his own city and his own house."

7And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

7So they chose these cities: Kedesh in Galilee, in the hills of Naphtali. They chose Shechem, in the hills of Ephraim. They chose Kirjath-arba, which is also called Hebron, in the hills of Judah.

8And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

8They chose three more cities east of the Jordan River, near Jericho. They chose Bezer, out on the flat, dry land, from the tribe of Reuben. They chose Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad. They chose Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh.

9These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.

9These were the cities picked for all the people of Israel. They were also for visitors from other lands living among them. Anyone who killed a person by accident could run to them. The family member could not kill him there. First the people had to meet and decide his case.