1
And Jehovah spoke to▵ Joshua, saying,
2
Speak to▵ the sons of Israel, saying, Appoint* for yourselves cities of refuge of which I spoke to▵ you by the hand of Moses;
3
that the manslayer who smites a soul* in ignorance without◦ knowledge may flee thither; and they shall be to you for a refuge from the redeemer of blood.
4
And he shall flee to▵ one of these cities, and stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and he shall speak his words in the ears of the elders of that◦ city, and they shall take him into the city to▵ them, and give to him a place, and he shall dwell with▵ them.
5
And if▫ the redeemer of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver* the manslayer into his hand, for he smote his companion without◦ knowing, and he◦ was not hating him from yesterday and the day before*.
6
And he shall dwell in that◦ city until he stand before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the great priest who shall be in those◦ days; then▵ shall the manslayer return and come out to▵ his own city and to▵ his own house, to▵ the city from whence he fled.
7
And they sanctified Kedesh in Galilee in Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in the mountain of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba, it is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
8
And from across Jordan by Jericho toward the sunrise they gave Bezer in the wilderness on◦ the plateau 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 are the cities of congregating for all the sons of Israel, and for the sojourner who sojourns in their midst, that everyone who smites a soul in ignorance might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the redeemer of blood until he stand before the congregation.
