Joshua 20:2

NET Bible® (New English Translation)

“Have the Israelites select the cities of refuge that I told you about through Moses.

Additional Resources

Referenced Verses

  • Deut 4:41-43 : 41 The Narrative Concerning Cities of Refuge Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east. 42 Anyone who accidentally killed someone without hating him at the time of the accident could flee to one of those cities and be safe. 43 These cities are Bezer, in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.
  • Num 35:6 : 6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. And you must give them forty-two other towns.
  • Num 35:11-24 : 11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge. 14 “You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the resident foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there. 16 “But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 17 If he strikes him by throwing a stone large enough that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 18 Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon so that he could die, and he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him. 20 “But if he strikes him out of hatred or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies, 21 or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him. 22 “But if he strikes him suddenly, without enmity, or throws anything at him unintentionally, 23 or with any stone large enough that a man could die, without seeing him, and throws it at him, and he dies, even though he was not his enemy nor sought his harm, 24 then the community must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these decisions.
  • Deut 19:2-9 : 2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities in the middle of your land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession. 3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent of your land that the LORD your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities. 4 Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, if he has accidentally killed another without hating him at the time of the accident. 5 Suppose he goes with someone else to the forest to cut wood and when he raises the ax to cut the tree, the ax head flies loose from the handle and strikes his fellow worker so hard that he dies. The person responsible may then flee to one of these cities to save himself. 6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, and kill him, though this is not a capital case since he did not hate him at the time of the accident. 7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities. 8 If the LORD your God enlarges your borders as he promised your ancestors and gives you all the land he pledged to them, 9 and then you are careful to observe all these commandments I am giving you today(namely, to love the LORD your God and to always walk in his ways), then you must add three more cities to these three. 10 You must not shed innocent blood in your land that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, for that would make you guilty. 11 However, suppose a person hates someone else and stalks him, attacks him, kills him, and then flees to one of these cities. 12 The elders of his own city must send for him and remove him from there to deliver him over to the blood avenger to die. 13 You must not pity him, but purge out the blood of the innocent from Israel, so that it may go well with you.
  • Rom 8:1 : 1 The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
  • Rom 8:33-34 : 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died(and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us.
  • Heb 6:18-19 : 18 so that we who have found refuge in him may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, sure and steadfast, which reaches inside behind the curtain,
  • Exod 21:13-14 : 13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, but it happens by accident, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. 14 But if a man willfully attacks his neighbor to kill him cunningly, you will take him even from my altar that he may die.

Similar Verses (AI)

These verses are found using AI-powered semantic similarity based on meaning and context. Results may occasionally include unexpected connections.

  • 1 Israel Designates Cities of Refuge The LORD instructed Joshua:

  • Num 35:9-15
    7 verses
    82%

    9 The Cities of Refuge Then the LORD spoke to Moses:

    10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them,‘When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,

    11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee.

    12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community.

    13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge.

    14 “You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge.

    15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the resident foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.

  • Josh 20:3-9
    7 verses
    81%

    3 Anyone who accidentally kills someone can escape there; these cities will be a place of asylum from the avenger of blood.

    4 The one who committed manslaughter should escape to one of these cities, stand at the entrance of the city gate, and present his case to the leaders of that city. They should then bring him into the city, give him a place to stay, and let him live there.

    5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they must not hand over to him the one who committed manslaughter, for he accidentally killed his fellow man without premeditation.

    6 He must remain in that city until his case is decided by the assembly and the high priest dies. Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to the city from which he escaped.”

    7 So they selected Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arba(that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

    8 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho they selected Bezer in the wilderness on the plain belonging to the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead belonging to the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan belonging to the tribe of Manasseh.

    9 These were the cities of refuge appointed for all the Israelites and for resident foreigners living among them. Anyone who accidentally killed someone could escape there and not be executed by the avenger of blood, at least until his case was reviewed by the assembly.

  • 6 Now from these towns that you will give to the Levites you must select six towns of refuge to which a person who has killed someone may flee. And you must give them forty-two other towns.

  • Deut 4:41-44
    4 verses
    77%

    41 The Narrative Concerning Cities of Refuge Then Moses selected three cities in the Transjordan, toward the east.

    42 Anyone who accidentally killed someone without hating him at the time of the accident could flee to one of those cities and be safe.

    43 These cities are Bezer, in the wilderness plateau, for the Reubenites; Ramoth in Gilead for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan for the Manassehites.

    44 The Setting and Introduction of the Covenant This is the law that Moses set before the Israelites.

  • Deut 19:2-4
    3 verses
    75%

    2 you must set apart for yourselves three cities in the middle of your land that the LORD your God is giving you as a possession.

    3 You shall build a roadway and divide into thirds the whole extent of your land that the LORD your God is providing as your inheritance; anyone who kills another person should flee to the closest of these cities.

    4 Now this is the law pertaining to one who flees there in order to live, if he has accidentally killed another without hating him at the time of the accident.

  • Deut 19:6-7
    2 verses
    75%

    6 Otherwise the blood avenger will chase after the killer in the heat of his anger, eventually overtake him, and kill him, though this is not a capital case since he did not hate him at the time of the accident.

    7 Therefore, I am commanding you to set apart for yourselves three cities.

  • 2 in Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said,“The LORD told Moses to assign us cities in which to live along with the grazing areas for our cattle.”

  • 27 They assigned to the Gershonite clans of the Levites the following cities: from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan(a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) and Beeshtarah, along with the grazing areas of each– a total of two cities;

  • Num 35:1-2
    2 verses
    73%

    1 The Levitical Cities Then the LORD spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains of Moab along the Jordan near Jericho. He said:

    2 “Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

  • 16 Appointed Officials The LORD said to Moses:

  • 21 They assigned them Shechem(a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter) in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer,

  • 13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they assigned Hebron(a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Libnah,

  • Num 35:26-28
    3 verses
    70%

    26 But if the slayer at any time goes outside the boundary of the town to which he had fled,

    27 and the avenger of blood finds him outside the borders of the town of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the slayer, he will not be guilty of blood,

    28 because the slayer should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions.

  • 8 So the Israelites assigned to the Levites by lot these cities and their grazing areas, as the LORD had instructed Moses.

  • 1 Religious and Social Regulations The LORD spoke to Moses:

  • 38 from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead(a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Mahanaim,

  • 32 from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee(a city of refuge for one who committed manslaughter), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, along with the grazing areas of each– a total of three cities.

  • 1 Prohibitions against Illegitimate Family Worship The LORD spoke to Moses:

  • 52 Then the LORD spoke to Moses:

  • 17 Rules for First Fruits The LORD spoke to Moses:

  • Num 15:1-2
    2 verses
    69%

    1 Sacrificial Rulings The LORD spoke to Moses:

    2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them,‘When you enter the land where you are to live, which I am giving you,

  • 15 This is how you are to deal with all those cities located far from you, those that do not belong to these nearby nations.

  • 67 They were allotted as cities of refuge Shechem and its pasturelands(in the hill country of Ephraim), Gezer and its pasturelands,

  • 1 The Southern Border of the Land Then the LORD spoke to Moses:

  • 57 The descendants of Aaron were also allotted as cities of refuge Hebron, Libnah and its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands,

  • 2 your elders and judges must go out and measure how far it is to the cities in the vicinity of the corpse.

  • 1 Exhortation to Obedience and Life The LORD spoke to Moses: