Joshua 20

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Yahweh said to Joshua,	1 And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them:
2 'Speak to the Israelites and say to them, "Choose yourselves the cities of refuge of which I spoke toyou through Moses,	2 Separate the cities of refuge, about which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses,
3 to which anyone who has accidental y (unintentional y) kil ed someone else may flee, and which wilserve you as refuge from the avenger of blood.	3 so that anyone who will have struck down a life unintentionally may flee to them. And so, he may be able to escape from the wrath of a close relative, who is an avenger of blood.
4 (The kil er must flee to one of these towns. He will stop at the entrance to the town gate and explain hiscase to the town elders. These wil admit him to their town and assign him a place to live among them.	4 And when he will have fled to one of these cities, he shall stand before the gate of the city, and he shall speak to the ancients of that city, the things that prove him innocent. And so shall they receive him, and give him a place in which to live.
5 If the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not hand the kil er over to him, since he has kil ed hisfel ow unintentionally and was not motivated by long-standing hatred for him.	5 And if the avenger of blood will have pursued him, they shall not deliver him into his hands. For he struck down his neighbor unknowingly, one who was not proven to have been his enemy two or three days before.
6 He must stay in this town) until he is brought to trial before the community (until the death of the highpriest then in office. Only then may the kil er go back to his own town and to his own house in the town fromwhich he has fled)."	6 And he shall live in that city, until he stands before judgment in order to render the facts of his case, and until the death of the high priest, whoever it will be in that time. Then the one who killed a man may return, and he may enter his own city and house, from which he had fled.”
7 For this purpose they designated Kedesh in Galilee, in the highlands of Naphtali, Shechem in thehighlands of Ephraim, and Kiriath-Arba -- now Hebron -- in the highlands of Judah.	7 And they decreed Kedesh in Galilee, at mount Naphtali, and Shechem, at mount Ephraim, and Kiriath-Arba, which is Hebron, at mount Judah.
8 On the other, eastern, side of the Jordan opposite Jericho, in the desert of the tableland, they choseBezer of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan of the tribe ofManasseh.	8 And beyond the Jordan, opposite the eastern side of Jericho, they appointed Bezer, which is situated on the plain of the wilderness of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan of the tribe of Manasseh.
9 Such were the towns designated for al the Israelites and for foreigners living among them, so thatanyone who had accidental y kil ed someone could flee there and might escape the hand of the avenger ofblood, until brought to trial before the community.	9 These cities were established for all the sons of Israel, and for the new arrivals who were living among them, so that whoever had struck down a life unintentionally might flee to these, and not die at the hand of a close relative who desires to vindicate the blood that was shed, until he should stand before the people, in order to present his case.