1Yahweh spoke to Joshua, saying, 2"Speak to the children of Israel, saying, 'Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses, 3that the manslayer who kills any person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there. They shall be to you for a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4He shall flee to one of those cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city. They shall take him into the city with them, and give him a place, that he may live among them. 5If the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, and didn't hate him before. 6He shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days. Then the manslayer shall return, and come to his own city, and to his own house, to the city he fled from.'" 7They set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. 8Beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the alien who lives among them, that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stands before the congregation.
The Book ofJoshua 20Chapter XX 20
· 9 verses · 2 minute read
About this chapter
Joshua 20 — Conquest of Canaan
Joshua — Military leader and Moses' successor who led Israel's conquest of Canaan. Set in Six designated cities of refuge across Israel. God establishes cities of refuge where someone who accidentally kills another person can flee for protection from vengeful family members. These sanctuary cities become beacons of justice and mercy, ensuring that accidents don't destroy two families instead of one.
“Joshua 20:3”— 20:3
Read when: Read this when you need to understand how God balances justice with mercy in impossible situations.
Key verses in Joshua 20
Joshua 20:3 · PromiseJoshua 20:2Joshua 20:5 · Promise
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