1And the Lord spake to Joshua, and said,

2Speak thou to the sons of Israel, and say thou to them, Separate ye the cities of fugitives, either of men exiled for unwillful shedding of blood, of which cities I spake to you by the hand of Moses,

3that whoever slayeth unwittingly a man, flee to those cities; that when he hath fled to one of those cities, he may escape the ire [or wrath] of the neighbour, which is avenger of blood.

4And he shall stand before the gates of the city, and he shall speak to the elder men of that city those things that shall prove him innocent; and so they shall receive him, and they shall give to him a place to dwell in.

5And when the avenger of blood pursueth him, they of that city shall not betake him into the hands of the avenger; for unwittingly he killed his neighbour, and he is not proved his enemy before the second day either the third day.

6And he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before the doom, and yield, or show, the cause of his deed. And he that killed a man, dwell in that city, till the great priest die, which is in that time; then the manslayer shall turn again, and he shall enter into his city, and house, from which he fled.

7And they ordained Kedesh in Galilee, of the hill of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill of Ephraim, and Kiriatharba, that is Hebron, in the hill of Judah.

8And beyond Jordan, against the east coast of Jericho, they ordained Bezer, that is set in the field wilderness of the lineage of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, of the lineage of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, of the lineage of Manasseh.

9These cities were ordained to all the sons of Israel, and to the comelings that dwell among them, that he that killed unwittingly a man, should flee to those cities; and he should not die in the hand of the neighbour, coveting to avenge the blood shed out, till he stood before the people, to declare his cause.