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Saturday, September 13th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Read the Bible

New Revised Standard

Joshua 20:2

"Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Avenger of Blood;   Communion;   Homicide;   Refuge;   Thompson Chain Reference - Cities;   Refuge, Cities of;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Levites;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - City of refuge;   Shechem;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Land (of Israel);   Motives;   Murder;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Cities of Refuge;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Avenger;   Blood;   Cities of Refuge;   Court Systems;   Joshua, the Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Joshua;   Refuge, Cities of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Rainbow;   Refuge, Cities of;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Refuge;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Cities of refuge;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Cities of Refuge,;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Conquest of Canaan;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Appoint;   Cruel;   Goel;   Homicide;   Joshua (2);   Joshua, Book of;   Refuge, Cities of;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Blood-revenge;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
“Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
Hebrew Names Version
Speak to the children of Yisra'el, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spoke to you by Moshe,
King James Version
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
Lexham English Bible
"Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through the hand of Moses.
English Standard Version
"Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
New Century Version
"Tell the Israelites to choose the special cities of safety, as I had Moses command you to do.
New English Translation
"Have the Israelites select the cities of refuge that I told you about through Moses.
Amplified Bible
"Speak to the Israelites, saying, 'Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses,
New American Standard Bible
"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
Geneva Bible (1587)
Speake to the children of Israel, and say, Appoint you cities of refuge, whereof I spake vnto you by the hand of Moses,
Legacy Standard Bible
"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses,
Contemporary English Version
When Moses was still alive, I had him tell the Israelites about the Safe Towns. Now you tell them that it is time to set up these towns.
Complete Jewish Bible
"Tell the people of Isra'el, ‘Select the cities of refuge about which I spoke to you through Moshe;
Darby Translation
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for yourselves the cities of refuge, whereof I spoke unto you through Moses,
Easy-to-Read Version
"Through Moses, I told you to choose some cities to be cities of safety.
George Lamsa Translation
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Reserve for you cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through my servant Moses;
Good News Translation
to say to the people of Israel, "Choose the cities of refuge that I had Moses tell you about.
Literal Translation
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Give cities of refuge for you, as I have spoken to you by the hand of Moses,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Speake to the children of Israel: Geue amonge you fre cities, wherof I spake vnto you by Moses,
American Standard Version
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by Moses,
Bible in Basic English
Say to the children of Israel, Let certain towns be marked out as safe places, as I said to you by the mouth of Moses,
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Speake to the children of Israel, and saye: Appoint out fro amog you cities of refuge, wherof I spake vnto you by the hande of Moyses:
JPS Old Testament (1917)
'Speak to the children of Israel, saying: Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spoke unto you by the hand of Moses;
King James Version (1611)
Speake to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake vnto you by the hand of Moses:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by Moses.
English Revised Version
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:
Berean Standard Bible
"Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Departe ye the citees of fugytyues, `ether of men exilid for vnwilful schedyng of blood, of whiche citees Y spak to you bi the hond of Moises,
Young's Literal Translation
`Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, Give for you cities of refuge, as I have spoken unto you by the hand of Moses,
Update Bible Version
Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, Assign for yourselves the cities of refuge, whereof I spoke to you by Moses,
Webster's Bible Translation
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint for you cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses:
World English Bible
Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spoke to you by Moses,
New King James Version
"Speak to the children of Israel, saying: "Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
New Living Translation
"Now tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed Moses.
New Life Bible
"Say to the people of Israel, ‘Choose the cities where you may go and be safe when you are in trouble, as I said to you through Moses.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Speak unto the sons of Israel, saying, - Set out for you the cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you, by the hand of Moses:
Douay-Rheims Bible
Appoint cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of Moses:
Revised Standard Version
"Say to the people of Israel, 'Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, 'Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

Contextual Overview

1 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 "Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person without intent or by mistake may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 The slayer shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain the case to the elders of that city; then the fugitive shall be taken into the city, and given a place, and shall remain with them. 5 And if the avenger of blood is in pursuit, they shall not give up the slayer, because the neighbor was killed by mistake, there having been no enmity between them before. 6 The slayer shall remain in that city until there is a trial before the congregation, until the death of the one who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may return home, to the town in which the deed was done.'"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Appoint: Exodus 21:13, Exodus 21:14, Numbers 35:6, Numbers 35:11-14, Deuteronomy 4:41-43, Deuteronomy 19:2-13, Romans 8:1, Romans 8:33, Romans 8:34, Hebrews 6:18, Hebrews 6:19

you refuge: Numbers 35:15-24

Cross-References

Genesis 12:15
When the officials of Pharaoh saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
Genesis 20:11
Abraham said, "I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.
Genesis 20:12
Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Genesis 20:13
And when God caused me to wander from my father's house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.'"
Genesis 26:1
Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar, to King Abimelech of the Philistines.
Genesis 26:7
When the men of the place asked him about his wife, he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "My wife," thinking, "or else the men of the place might kill me for the sake of Rebekah, because she is attractive in appearance."
Genesis 26:16
And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us; you have become too powerful for us."
2 Chronicles 19:2
Jehu son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, "Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord ? Because of this, wrath has gone out against you from the Lord .
2 Chronicles 20:37
Then Eliezer son of Dodavahu of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have joined with Ahaziah, the Lord will destroy what you have made." And the ships were wrecked and were not able to go to Tarshish.
2 Chronicles 32:31
So also in the matter of the envoys of the officials of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Speak to the children of Israel, saying,.... Whom the affair concerned the Lord spake to Joshua about, they having now the whole land divided among them:

appoint out for you cities of refuge; of the name, nature, use, and number of these cities, :-;

whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: Numbers 35:1.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Joshua 20:2. Cities of refuge — An institution of this kind was essentially necessary wherever the patriarchal law relative to the right of redemption and the avenging of blood was in force; we have already seen that the nearest of kin to a deceased person had not only the right of redeeming an inheritance that had been forfeited or alienated, but had also authority to slay on the spot the person who had slain his relative. Now, as a man might casually kill another against whom he had no ill-will, and with whom he had no quarrel, and might have his life taken away by him who was called the avenger of blood, though he had not forfeited his life to the law; therefore these privileged cities were appointed, where the person might have protection till the cause had been fully heard by the magistrates, who certainly had authority to deliver him up to the avenger, if they found, on examination, that he was not entitled to this protection. On this subject see the notes on Numbers 35:11 to the end.


 
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