1 And the Lord 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. 3 Even a refuge to the slayer who has struck a ‡ man unintentionally; and the cities shall be to you a refuge, and the slayer shall not be put to death by the avenger of blood, until he have stood before the congregation for judgment. 4 And § Joshua separated Kadesh in Galilee in the mount Naphtali, and Shechem in the mount Ephraim, and the city of Arboc; this is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah. 5 And beyond The Jordan he appointed Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth-Gilead? in Galaad out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the country of Basan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 6 These were the cities selected for the sons of Israel, and for the stranger dwelling among them, that every one who smites a soul unintentionally should flee there, that he should not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he should stand before the congregation for judgment.