The Cities of Refuge
1 Then the Lord told Joshua 2 to say to the people of Israel, “Choose the cities of refuge that I had Moses tell you about. 3 If any of you accidentally kills someone, you can go there and escape the one who is looking for revenge. 4 You can run away to one of these cities, go to the place of judgment at the entrance to the city, and explain to the leaders what happened. Then they will let you into the city and give you a place to live in, so that you can stay there. 5 If the one looking for revenge follows you there, the people of the city must not hand you over to that one. They must protect you because you killed the person accidentally and not out of anger. 6 You may stay in the city until you have received a public trial and until the death of the man who is then the High Priest. Then you may go back home to your own town, from which you had run away.”
7 So, on the west side of the Jordan they set aside Kedesh in Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Hebron, in the hill country of Judah. 8 East of the Jordan, on the desert plateau east of Jericho, they chose Bezer in the territory of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the territory of Manasseh. 9 These were the cities of refuge chosen for all the people of Israel and for any foreigner living among them. Any who killed a person accidentally could find protection there from the one looking for revenge; they could not be killed unless they had first received a public trial.
Mizi ye matizhilo
(Mbalo 35:9-34)1 Kwakati shule kwa ipapo Yahwe bakalebeleka na Joshuwa kuti 2 adwe bathu be Iziraela ati, “Tjishalulani mizi ye matizhilo yandakatuma Mushe kuti amubudze nge kwayo, 3 kuti ndizo nthu ungabulaya mmwe kusi nge mwaza kene abe asakazwimisila kumbulaya atizhileko kuti abakiligwe muna unoshaka kuzwibgwilizilila.
4 “Ha mbulayi etizhila ku mmwe we mizi iyeyi wakafanila kuswika ema ku nkoba we nzi ngono ipapo abe ebikila bakulu be nzi ndebo iye. Ngono ndizo kudwapo bangan'amutjila mu nzi wabo bakampa magalo kuti agale nabo. 5 Ngono wabulayigwa ha angantobela bakulu be lubazhe abazofanila kudusa mbulayi iwoyo ngoti azobulaya mmwe mwaza kene nge mazwimisilo mamwe koga. 6 Mbulayi wakafanila gala mu nzi we dizhilo kudzina ema mbeli kwe gubungano esumikilisiwa ne kuswikila mpirisiti nkulu we tjibaka itjetjo efa. Ngono ndizo kudwapo ungayendazwe ku nzi uwe kwaakabe atizha ko.”
7 Ndizo bakashalula nzi we Kedeshi umu ntuthu we Galili mu shango ye matombo ya Nafutali ne Shekemu mu shango ye matombo ya Ifureimi ne Kiriyatiaribha (inodang'wa Heburoni) mu shango ye matombo ya Juda. 8 Ngono seli kwe gwizi gwe Jorodani ku bhezhuba kwe Jerikho bakashalula nzi we Bhezera umu tjilambanyika tje tjibata tje ludzi gwa Rubheni ne Ramoti mu Giliyadi mu ludzi gwa Gadi ne mu Golani mu Bhashani mu ludzi gwa Manase. 9 Mizi iyeyi ndiyo yakabe yashaluligwa Baiziraela bose ne bazhi bose bakabe begala mu Baiziraela kuti mmwe ne mmwe wakabulaya mmwe kusi nge mwaza kene nge mazwimisilo awe ungatizhila ku ili kuti ndizo asibulawe ne mbgwilizili wabulayigwa kuswikilila mbulayi asekesiwa mbeli kwe gubungano.