Six Cities of Refuge (Numbers 35:9–34; Deuteronomy 4:41–43; Deuteronomy 19:1–14)
1 CPDV And the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying: “Speak to the sons of Israel, and say to them: BSB BSB: Then the LORD said to Joshua,
2 CPDV Separate the cities of refuge, about which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses, BSB BSB: “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
3 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
4 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before its elders, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.
5 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.
6 CPDV 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.” BSB BSB: He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own home in the city from which he fled.”
7 CPDV And they decreed Kedesh in Galilee, at mount Naphtali, and Shechem, at mount Ephraim, and Kiriath-Arba, which is Hebron, at mount Judah. BSB BSB: So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
8 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.
9 CPDV 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. BSB BSB: These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.