2
Speak to the children of Israel,saying , Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
3
That the slayer that killeth any personunawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4
And 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.
5
And if the avenger of bloodpursueafter him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbourunwittingly*, and hated him not beforetime*.
6
And he shall dwell in that city, until he standbefore the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the highpriestthat shall be in those days: then shall the slayerreturn , and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled .
7
And they appointedKedesh in Galilee in mountNaphtali, and Shechem in mountEphraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
8
And on the other sideJordan by Jerichoeastward, they assignedBezer 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.
9
These were the citiesappointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojournethamong them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stoodbefore the congregation.
The contents of this chapter are the renewal of the order to appoint cities of refuge for such that commit manslaughter ignorantly, to flee unto, and have shelter in from the avenger of blood, Jos 20:1-6; and the execution of this order, Jos 20:7-9.