1. And the Lord spoke to Josue, saying: Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: 2. Appoint cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses, 3. that whosoever shall kill a person unawares may flee to them, and may escape the wrath of [his] neighbor, who is the avenger of blood: 4. when he shall flee to one of these cities, he shall stand before the gate of the city, and shall speak to the ancients of that city those [things] which prove him innocent: and so shall they receive him, and give him a place to dwell in. 5. And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they shall not deliver him into his hands, because he killed his neighbor unawares, nor is proved to have been his enemy two or three days before. 6. And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before judgment, giving an account of his deed, and [until] the high priest, who shall be at that time, die: then shall the manslayer return, and go into his own city and house, from which he had fled. 7. And they appointed Cedes in Galilee, of mount Nephtali, and Sichem in mount Ephraim, and Cariath-Arbe, the same is Hebron, in the mountain of Juda. 8. And beyond the Jordan, toward the east side of Jericho, they appointed Bosor, which is situate in the plain wilderness, of the tribe of Ruben, and Ramoth in Galaad, of the tribe of Gad, and Gaulon in Basan, of the tribe of Manasse. 9. These were cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the strangers that dwelt among them: that whosoever had killed a person unawares might flee to them, and not die in [by] the hand of the kinsman, coveting to revenge the blood that was shed, until he should stand before the people, to lay open his cause.
COMMENTARY
The cities of refuge are appointed in this chapter. For, first, the Lord commands Joshua himself to see to it that this now be done, as Moses had once announced and described [it was] to be done (Num. 35, from v. 14 to the end of that chapter; Deut. 19; Exod. 21:13). Then, when Joshua had obeyed the Lord, and had referred the whole matter to the people, straightway (v. 7) the cities of refuge are named.