1The LORD also spake unto Joshua, saying, 2Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint out for you cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses: 3That the slayer that killeth any person unawares and unwittingly may flee thither: and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4And when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and shall declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 5And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the slayer up into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unwittingly, and hated him not beforetime. 6And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the slayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.
7¶ And they appointed Kedesh in Galilee in mount Naphtali, and Shechem in mount Ephraim, and Kirjath-arba, which is Hebron, in the mountain of Judah.20.7 appointed: Heb. sanctified 8And on the other side Jordan by Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness upon the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh. 9These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person at unawares might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.
የመማጠኛ ከተሞች
20፥1-9 ተጓ ምብ – ዘኍ 35፥9-34፤ ዘዳ 4፥41-43፤ 19፥1-14
1ከዚያም እግዚአብሔር ኢያሱን እንዲህ አለው፤ 2“በሙሴ በኩል በነገርኋችሁ መሠረት የመማጠኛ ከተሞች እንዲለዩ ለእስራኤላውያን ንገራቸው፤ 3ሳያስበው ድንገት ሰው የገደለ ማንኛውም ሰው ወደዚያ በመሸሽ ከደም ተበቃዩ እንዲያመልጥ ከተማዪቱ መጠለያ ትሁን። 4ገዳዩ ከነዚህ ከተሞች ወደ አንዲቱ በሚሸሽበት ጊዜ፣ በከተማዪቱ መግቢያ በር ላይ ቆሞ ጕዳዩን ለከተማዪቱ ሽማግሌዎች ይንገራቸው፤ ከዚያም እነርሱ ወደ ከተማቸው አስገብተው የሚኖርበትን ስፍራ ሰጥተውት አብሯቸው ይቀመጥ። 5ደም ተበቃዩ ተከታትሎት ቢመጣ፣ ሆን ብሎና በክፋት ተነሣሥቶ ወንድሙን የገደለው ባለመሆኑ፣ ሰዎቹ ነፍሰ ገዳዩን አሳልፈው አይስጡት። 6በማኅበሩ ፊት ለፍርድ እስኪቀርብና በዚያ ጊዜ የሚያገለግለው ሊቀ ካህናት እስኪሞት ድረስ በዚያች ከተማ ይቈይ። ከዚያም ወደ ቤቱ፣ ሸሽቶ ወደ መጣበት ከተማ ሊመለስ ይችላል።”
7ስለዚህም በኰረብታማው በንፍታሌም ምድር በገሊላ ቃዴስን፣ በኰረብታማው በኤፍሬም ምድር ሴኬምን፣ በኰረብታማው በይሁዳ ምድር ኬብሮን የምትባለውን ቂርያት አርባቅን ለዩ። 8እንደዚሁም ከዮርዳኖስ ማዶ ከኢያሪኮ20፥8 ምናልባት፣ ዮርዳኖስ ዘኢያሪኮ የዮርዳኖስ ወንዝ የጥንት መጠሪያ ሊሆን ይችላል። በስተ ምሥራቅ በሮቤል ነገድ ይዞታ ውስጥ ከፍታ ባለው ምድረ በዳ ያለችውን ቦሶርን፣ በጋድ ነገድ ይዞታ ውስጥ ባለችው በገለዓድ የምትገኘውን ራሞትንና በምናሴ ነገድ ይዞታ ውስጥ በባሳን የምትገኘውን ጎላንን ለዩ። 9ሳያስበው በድንገት ሰው የገደለ ማንኛውም እስራኤላዊ ወይም በመካከላቸው የሚኖር ማንኛውም መጻተኛ ወደ ተለዩት ከተሞች መሸሽ ይችላል፤ በማኅበሩ ፊት ከመቆሙ አስቀድሞም በደም ተበቃዩ መገደል የለበትም።
