“The Lord also spake unto Joshua, saying,
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood.
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.
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.
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.
And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjatharba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.
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.
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.” – Joshua 20 (KJV)
1 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua 2 and told him to give the people of Israel the following directions:
Designate for yourselves the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moses. 3 A person who takes a life may flee to one of them, if that person has killed someone by accident, without intent. These cities are to serve for you as a refuge from the avenger[a] of blood.
4 The person is to flee to one of these cities and stand at the entrance to the gate of the city and state his case before a hearing of the elders of that city. They are to receive him into the city and give him a place where he can live with them. 5 When the avenger of blood pursues him, the elders are not to hand over the person who took a life to the avenger, because that person killed his fellow man without intent, and he had not been his enemy previously. 6 The killer is to live in that city until he stands in front of the community for judgment, and then until the death of the high priest who presides in those days. At that time the one who took a life may return to his city and to his house—to the city from which he fled.
7 So they set apart 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 Also in the region on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland 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 people of Israel and for the aliens residing among them, so that anyone killing a person accidentally could flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood before he stood trial in the presence of the community.
Footnotes:
[a] Joshua 20:3 The Hebrew word translated avenger is goel. Goel is also translated redeemer or kinsman redeemer. One function of the goel was to seek justice for a relative who had been killed. In that situation the goel is called an avenger. Another duty of the goel was recovering lost property. In that situation he is called a redeemer.