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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

New King James Version

Joshua 20:2

"Speak to the children of Israel, saying: "Appoint for yourselves 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 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.
New Revised Standard
"Say to the Israelites, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke 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 Numbers 35:9-28; Deuteronomy 19:1-13">[xr] The LORD also spoke to Joshua, saying, 2 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying: "Appoint for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, 3 that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. 4 And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. 5 Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. 6 And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled."'

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
The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house.
Genesis 20:11
And Abraham said, "Because I thought, surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife.
Genesis 20:12
But indeed she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife.
Genesis 20:13
And it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's house, that I said to her, "This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, say of me, "He is my brother.""'
Genesis 26:1
There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar.
Genesis 26:7
And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, "She is my sister"; for he was afraid to say, "She is my wife," because he thought, "lest the men of the place kill me for Rebekah, because she is beautiful to behold."
Genesis 26:16
And Abimelech said to Isaac, "Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we."
2 Chronicles 19:2
And Jehu the 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? Therefore the wrath of the LORD is upon you.
2 Chronicles 20:37
But Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, "Because you have allied yourself with Ahaziah, the LORD has destroyed your works." Then the ships were wrecked, so that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
2 Chronicles 32:31
However, regarding the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, whom they sent to him to inquire about the wonder that was done in the land, God withdrew from him, in order to test him, that He might 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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