And the cities shall be to you for refuge from the kinsman-avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
And the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities of refuge which you shall give for the manslayer that he may flee there; and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.
These were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel, and for the alien who was living in their midst, that any who had struck a life in error might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.