(KJV) Joshua 20¹

⥃Six Cities of Refuge ^{[ Numbers 35:9–34 † Deuteronomy 4:41–43 † Deuteronomy 19:1–14 ]}

[1] The Lord also spake² unto Joshua, saying, [2] Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint³ out for you cities of refuge⁴, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: [3] That the slayer that killeth [any] person unawares [and] unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. [4] And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering⁵ of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take⁶ him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may⁷ dwell among them. [5] 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.⁸ [6] And he shall dwell in that city, until⁹ 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.

[7] And they appointed¹⁰ Kedesh¹¹ in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem¹² in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath–arba¹³, which [is] Hebron, in the mountain¹⁴ of Judah. [8] And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer¹⁵ in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth¹⁶ in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan¹⁷ in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. [9] These were the cities¹⁸ 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 stood¹⁹ before the congregation.