Numbers 33–35

WILDERNESS TRAVELS REVIEWED

33These were the stages of the Israelites’ journey when they went out of the land of Egypt by their military divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ²At the Lord’s command, Moses wrote down the starting points for the stages of their journey; these are the stages listed by their starting points:

³They traveled from Rameses^f in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month. On the day after the Passover^g the Israelites went out defiantly^h in the sight of all the Egyptians. ⁴Meanwhile, the Egyptians were burying every firstborn male the Lord had struck down among them, for the Lord had executed judgment against their gods.^{i 5}The Israelites traveled from Rameses and camped at Succoth.^j

⁶They traveled from Succoth and camped at Etham,^k which is on the edge of the wilderness.

⁷They traveled from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, which faces Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol.^l

⁸They traveled from Pi-hahiroth^B and crossed through the middle of the sea^m into the wilderness. They took a three-day journey into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.ⁿ

⁹They traveled from Marah and came to Elim.^o There were twelve springs and seventy date palms at Elim, so they camped there.

¹⁰They traveled from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.

¹¹They traveled from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin.^p

¹²They traveled from the Wilderness of Sin and camped in Dophkah.

¹³They traveled from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴They traveled from Alush and camped at Rephidim,^q where there was no water for the people to drink.^r

¹⁵They traveled from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.^s

¹⁶They traveled from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.^t

¹⁷They traveled from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.^u

¹⁸They traveled from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹They traveled from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.

²⁰They traveled from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹They traveled from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²²They traveled from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³They traveled from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴They traveled from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵They traveled from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶They traveled from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷They traveled from Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸They traveled from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

²⁹They traveled from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰They traveled from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹They traveled from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.^a

³²They traveled from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.

³³They traveled from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴They traveled from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵They traveled from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.^b

³⁶They traveled from Ezion-geber and camped in the Wilderness of Zin^c (that is, Kadesh).

³⁷They traveled from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor^d on the edge of the land of Edom. ³⁸At the Lord’s command, the priest Aaron climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month in the fortieth year after the Israelites went out of the land of Egypt.^{e 39}Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. ⁴⁰At that time the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan,^f heard the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹They traveled from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴²They traveled from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³They traveled from Punon and camped at Oboth.^g

⁴⁴They traveled from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab.^h

⁴⁵They traveled from Iyim^A and camped at Dibon-gad.ⁱ

⁴⁶They traveled from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.^j

⁴⁷They traveled from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the Abarim^k range facing Nebo.^l

⁴⁸They traveled from the Abarim range and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.^{m 49}They camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimothⁿ to the Acacia Meadow^Bo on the plains of Moab.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR OCCUPYING CANAAN

⁵⁰The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, ⁵¹“Tell the Israelites: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²you must drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you, destroy all their stone images^p and cast images,^q and demolish all their high places. ⁵³You are to take possession of the land and settle in it because I have given you the land^r to possess. ⁵⁴You are to receive the land as an inheritance by lot according to your clans. Increase the inheritance for a large clan and decrease it for a small one. Whatever place the lot indicates for someone will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to your ancestral tribes. ⁵⁵But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs for your eyes and thorns for your sides; they will harass you in the land where you will live. ⁵⁶And what I had planned to do to them, I will do to you.”^s

BOUNDARIES OF THE PROMISED LAND

34The Lord spoke to Moses, ²“Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance^A with these borders:

³Your southern side will be from the Wilderness of Zin along the boundary of Edom. Your southern border on the east will begin at the east end of the Dead Sea. ⁴Your border will turn south of the Scorpions’ Ascent, proceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon.^{t 5}The border will turn from Azmon^u to the Brook of Egypt,^v where it will end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶Your western border will be the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea; this will be your western border.

⁷This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea draw a line to Mount Hor;^{w 8}from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath,^Cx and the border will reach Zedad.^{y 9}Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan.^z This will be your northern border.

¹⁰For your eastern border, draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹The border will go down from Shepham to Riblah east of Ain.^a It will continue down and reach the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth.^{b 12}Then the border will go down to the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea. This will be your land defined by its borders on all sides.”

¹³So Moses commanded the Israelites, “This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes. ¹⁴For the tribe of Reuben’s descendants and the tribe of Gad’s descendants have received their inheritance according to their ancestral families,^E and half the tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. ¹⁵The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance^c across the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

LEADERS FOR DISTRIBUTING THE LAND

¹⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, ¹⁷“These are the names of the men who are to distribute the land as an inheritance for you: the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸Take one leader from each tribe to distribute the land. ¹⁹These are the names of the men:

Caleb^d son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;

²⁰Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon’s descendants;

²¹Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin;

²²Bukki son of Jogli, a leader from the tribe of Dan’s descendants;

²³from the sons of Joseph:

Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh’s descendants,

²⁴Kemuel son of Shiphtan, a leader from the tribe of Ephraim’s descendants;

²⁵Eli-zaphan son of Parnach, a leader from the tribe of Zebulun’s descendants;

²⁶Paltiel son of Azzan, a leader from the tribe of Issachar’s descendants;

²⁷Ahihud son of Shelomi, a leader from the tribe of Asher’s descendants;

²⁸Pedahel son of Ammihud, a leader from the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants.”

²⁹These are the ones the Lord commanded to distribute the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

CITIES FOR THE LEVITES

35The Lord again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:^{e 2}“Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.^{f 3}The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals. ⁴The pasturelands of the cities you are to give the Levites will extend from the city wall five hundred yards^A on every side. ⁵Measure a thousand yards^B outside the city for the east side, a thousand yards for the south side, a thousand yards for the west side, and a thousand yards for the north side, with the city in the center. This will belong to them as pasturelands for the cities.

⁶“The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge,^g which you will provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give forty-two other cities.^{h 7}The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, along with their pasturelands.^{i 8}Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.^j Each tribe is to give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance it receives.”

CITIES OF REFUGE

⁹The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁰“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.^{k 12}You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger,^l so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. ¹³The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge.^{m 15}These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the alien or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who…