God said
to Joshua, “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Appoint you cities of
refuge whereof I spake unto you by Moses; they shall be a refuge from the
avenger of blood.
“When
a man killeth his neighbour ignorantly, who he hated not in time past; as when
a men goeth into a wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a
stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the
handle, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of
those cities, and live.
“And
when he that doth flee unto one of those cities shall stand at 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.
“If
the avenger of blood shall pursue after him, then they shall not deliver the
slayer up into his hand.
“The
slayer shall dwell in that city until the death of the high priest that shall
be in those days, then shall the slayer return unto his own city from whence he
came.”
Deut. 19, and Josh. 20