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Joshua 20
New King James Version
Joshua 20
New King James Version
The Cities of Refuge(A)
20 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: (B)‘Appoint[a] for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and [b]declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 5 (C)Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. 6 And he shall dwell in that city (D)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”
7 So they appointed (E)Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, (F)Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and (G)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in (H)the mountains of Judah. 8 And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned (I)Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, (J)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and (K)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 (L)These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who [c]dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood (M)until he stood before the congregation.
Footnotes
- Joshua 20:2 Designate
- Joshua 20:4 states
- Joshua 20:9 As a resident alien
Joshua 20
New American Standard Bible
Joshua 20
New American Standard Bible
Six Cities of Refuge
20 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘[a]Designate (A)the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you [b]through Moses, 3 so that one who commits manslaughter by [c]killing a person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 Then he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the (B)gate of the city, and state his case in the [d]presence of the elders of that city; and they shall [e]receive him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may remain among them. 5 Now (C)if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they are not to hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, since he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him previously. 6 And he shall remain in that city (D)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then [f]he shall [g]return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’”
7 So they [h]set apart (E)Kedesh in [i]Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in (F)the hill country of Judah. 8 And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they [j]designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. 9 (G)These were the designated cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, so that whoever [k]kills a person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.
Footnotes
- Joshua 20:2 Lit Give for yourselves
- Joshua 20:2 Lit by the hand of
- Joshua 20:3 Lit striking
- Joshua 20:4 Lit ears of
- Joshua 20:4 Lit gather
- Joshua 20:6 Lit the one who committed manslaughter
- Joshua 20:6 Lit return and come
- Joshua 20:7 Lit sanctified
- Joshua 20:7 Heb Galil
- Joshua 20:8 Lit gave
- Joshua 20:9 Lit strikes
Joshua 20
Amplified Bible
Joshua 20
Amplified Bible
Six Cities of Refuge
20 The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, [a]without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the [b]blood avenger.(A) 4 He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and [c]explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them. 5 If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor [d]unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. 6 He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and [e]if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.’”
7 So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain 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 were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].
Footnotes
- Joshua 20:3 Lit without knowledge. The Hebrew terminology is not very precise, but adequate nonetheless to distinguish involuntary manslaughter from murder. In modern terms, the person who is guilty only of manslaughter must not have been aware at the time that he was actually killing a human being (like the hunter who mistakes a man for an animal of prey); or if he knew that his actions were affecting another human, he must not have been aware that those actions could result in the death of the other person. In v 5, it is also stated that the perpetrator must not have had hatred for the victim, and it is implied that if hatred was a factor, the killer is automatically ruled a murderer (cf Num 35:20, 21).
- Joshua 20:3 Lit redeemer of blood, the idea being that the one who kills the murderer of a relative redeems the guilt of the crime. The avenger was ordinarily a male next-of-kin, and he had the right, or even the responsibility, to execute the guilty party.
- Joshua 20:4 Lit speak his word in the hearing of.
- Joshua 20:5 Lit without knowledge.
- Joshua 20:6 If judged guilty, the killer would be put to death. Otherwise, the time he was required to spend in the city of refuge represented a less severe punishment for involuntary manslaughter. Afterward, he was entitled to return home and live in safety. If the blood avenger killed him then, the avenger would be guilty of murder.
Joshua 20
New International Version
Joshua 20
New International Version
Cities of Refuge(A)
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionally(B) may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.(C) 4 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. 5 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. 6 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.”
7 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) 8 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. 9 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)
Joshua 20
King James Version
Joshua 20
King James Version
20 The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying,
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 person unawares 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 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.
6 And 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.
7 And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
8 And 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.
9 These 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.
New King James Version (NKJV) 
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.