Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 44
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IMMERSE
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KINGDOMS
20:1–21:5
sacred lots in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle
at Shiloh. So the division of the land was completed.
The Lord said to Joshua, “Now tell the Israelites to designate the cities of
refuge, as I instructed Moses. Anyone who kills another person accidentally and unintentionally can run to one of these cities; they will be places
of refuge from relatives seeking revenge for the person who was killed.
“Upon reaching one of these cities, the one who caused the death will
appear before the elders at the city gate and present his case. They must
allow him to enter the city and give him a place to live among them. If the
relatives of the victim come to avenge the killing, the leaders must not
release the slayer to them, for he killed the other person unintentionally
and without previous hostility. But the slayer must stay in that city and be
tried by the local assembly, which will render a judgment. And he must
continue to live in that city until the death of the high priest who was in
office at the time of the accident. After that, he is free to return to his own
home in the town from which he fled.”
The following cities were designated as cities of refuge: Kedesh of
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.
On the east side of the Jordan River, across from Jericho, the following
cities were designated: Bezer, in the wilderness plain of the tribe of Reu
ben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of the tribe of Gad; and Golan in
Bashan, in the land of the tribe of Manasseh. These cities were set apart
for all the Israelites as well as the foreigners living among them. Anyone
who accidentally killed another person could take refuge in one of these
cities. In this way, they could escape being killed in revenge prior to standing trial before the local assembly.
Then the leaders of the tribe of Levi came to consult with Eleazar the priest,
Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the other tribes of Israel. They came
to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The Lord commanded
Moses to give us towns to live in and pasturelands for our livestock.” So by
the command of the Lord the people of Israel gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own grants of land.
The descendants of Aaron, who were members of the Kohathite clan
within the tribe of Levi, were allotted thirteen towns that were originally
assigned to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The other families