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 smitten 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.

7 And Joshua separated Kadesh in Galilee in the Mount Naphtali, and Shechem in the Mount Ephraim, and the city of Arba; this is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.

8 And beyond Jordan he appointed Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in the country of Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

9 These were the cities selected for the sons of Israel, and for the stranger abiding among them, that every one who smites a soul unintentionally should flee thither, that he should not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he should stand before the congregation for judgment.