American Standard Version of 1901
Versliste
And Jehovah spake unto Joshua, saying,
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by Moses,
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
He that smiteth a man, so that he dieth, shall surely be put to death.
And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.
And Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly may flee thither.
And the cities shall be unto you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation for judgment.
And the cities which ye shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
Ye shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall ye give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that every one that killeth any person {Or, through error}unwittingly may flee thither.
Then Moses set apart three cities beyond the Jordan toward the sunrising;
that the manslayer might flee thither, that slayeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past; and that fleeing unto one of these cities he might live:
namely, Bezer in the wilderness, in the {Or, table-land}plain country, for the Reubenites; and Ramoth in Gilead, for the Gadites; and Golan in Bashan, for the Manassites.
When Jehovah thy God shall cut off the nations, whose land Jehovah thy God giveth thee, and thou succeedest them, and dwellest in their cities, and in their houses;
thou shalt set apart three cities for thee in the midst of thy land, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee to possess it.
Thou shalt prepare thee the way, and divide the borders of thy land, which Jehovah thy God causeth thee to inherit, into three parts, that every manslayer may flee thither.
And this is the case of the manslayer, that shall flee thither and live: whoso killeth his neighbor unawares, and hated him not in time past;
as when a man goeth into the forest with his neighbor to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the {Hebrew: iron.}head slippeth from {Or, the tree}the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbor, so that he dieth; he shall flee unto one of these cities and live:
lest the avenger of blood pursue the manslayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and smite him mortally; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.
Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt set apart three cities for thee.