Cities of Refuge 20:1–9 God reminds Joshua of some unfinished business in the division of the land. God commands in Numbers that cities be set aside to protect those who face the threat of blood revenge (Num. 35:8–34), and Moses repeats that command in Deuteronomy (Deut. 19:1–13). Joshua 20 states that cities need to be set aside as places of “refuge,” “admittance,” or “inclusion” (the term does not appear in Deut. 19). The passage in Joshua lists three cities west of the Jordan from north to south (v. 7) and three cities east of the Jordan south to north (v. 8). The verses designate the cities as geographical regional centers of asylum. The lists also mention cities east of the Jordan by tribe. The cities of refuge are Kedesh, Shechem, and Hebron in Canaan, and Bezer, Ramoth-Gilead, and G…