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20 Hashem also spoke unto Yehoshua, saying,

Speak to the Bnei Yisroel, saying, Designate for you cities of refuge, whereof I spoke unto you by the yad Moshe:

That the slayer that killeth any nefesh unawares and unwittingly may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the Go’el HaDahm.

And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the petach (entrance) of the sha’ar ha’ir, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the zekenim of that city, they shall admit him into the Ir unto them, and give him a makom, that he may dwell among them.

And if the Go’el HaDahm pursue after him, then they shall not surrender the slayer up into his yad; because he struck his neighbor unwittingly, and not with malice against him beforetime.

And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before HaEdah L’Mishpat, and until the Mot of the HaKohen HaGadol that shall be in those yamim; then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own bais, unto the Ir from whence he fled.

And they appointed Kedesh in the Galil in Har Naphtali and Shechem in Har Ephrayim, and Kiryat Arba, which is Chevron, in Har Yehudah.

And on the other side of the Yarden by Yericho eastward, they assigned Betzer in the midbar upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuven, and Ramot in Gil‘ad out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Menasheh.

These were the cities designated for kol Bnei Yisroel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any nefesh unawares might flee there, and not die by the yad of the Go’el HaDahm, until he stood before HaEdah.

Cities of Refuge(A)

20 Then the Lord said to Joshua: “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally(B) may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.(C) When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gate(D) and state their case before the elders(E) of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assembly(F) and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

So they set apart Kedesh(G) in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem(H) in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba(I) (that is, Hebron(J)) in the hill country of Judah.(K) East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezer(L) in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead(M) in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan(N) in the tribe of Manasseh. Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentally(O) could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.(P)