Joshua 20

Cities of Refuge Set Up

1 Then the Lord told Joshua,

2 “Tell the people of Israel to set up the cities of refuge - like I told Moses -

3 so that anyone who accidentally kills someone - without beef or premeditated drama - can run there and be safe from the dead person’s fam trying to avenge.”

4 “When someone runs to one of these cities, they must stop at the gate, explain what happened to the city leaders. If it checks out, the leaders should let them in and give them a spot to live.”

5 “If the avenger comes looking for payback, the city cannot turn the person over - because it was not murder with intent. It was an accident.”

6 “They must stay in that city ‘til they stand trial and the high priest at the time passes away. Then they can go back to their hometown, back to their old life.”

The Refuge Cities Named

7 So they picked the cities: Kedesh in Galilee (in Naphtali’s hill country), Shechem (in Ephraim’s hill country), and Kiriath-arba aka Hebron (in Judah’s hill country).

8 And on the east side of the Jordan (across from Jericho), they set up: Bezer (on the plateau in Reuben’s tribe), Ramoth in Gilead (Gad’s tribe), and Golan in Bashan (Manasseh’s tribe).

9 These were the cities for anyone - Israelite or foreigner living with them - who accidentally caught a body. If they made it to one of these cities, they would not get killed by the avenger before their day in court.