Numbers 33–35

Recounting Israel’s Journey

33These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ²Moses wrote down their starting places, ^lstage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. ³They ^mset out from Rameses in ⁿthe first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out ^otriumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, ⁴while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, ^pwhom the Lord had struck down among them. ^qOn their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

⁵So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at ^rSuccoth. ⁶And they set out from Succoth and camped at ^sEtham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. ⁷And they set out from Etham and turned back to ^tPi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. ⁸And they set out from before Hahiroth¹ and ^upassed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they ^vwent a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ⁹And they set out from Marah and came to ^wElim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. ¹⁰And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. ¹¹And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in ^xthe wilderness of Sin. ¹²And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. ¹³And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. ¹⁴And they set out from Alush and camped at ^yRephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. ¹⁵And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the ^zwilderness of Sinai. ¹⁶And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at ^aKibroth-hattaavah. ¹⁷And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at ^bHazeroth. ¹⁸And they ^cset out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. ¹⁹And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. ²⁰And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. ²¹And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. ²²And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. ²³And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. ²⁴And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. ²⁵And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. ²⁶And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. ²⁷And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. ²⁸And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. ²⁹And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. ³⁰And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. ³¹And they set out from Moseroth and camped at ^dBene-jaakan. ³²And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at ^eHor-haggidgad. ³³And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at ^eJotbathah. ³⁴And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. ³⁵And they set out from Abronah and camped at ^fEzion-geber. ³⁶And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the ^gwilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). ³⁷And they set out from ^hKadesh and camped at ⁱMount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

³⁸And Aaron the priest went up ^jMount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. ³⁹And Aaron was ^k123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰And ^lthe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

⁴¹And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. ⁴²And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³And they set out from Punon and camped at ^mOboth. ⁴⁴And they set out from Oboth and camped at ⁿIye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. ⁴⁵And they set out from Iyim and camped at ^oDibon-gad. ⁴⁶And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ⁴⁷And they set out from Almon-diblathaim ^pand camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. ⁴⁸And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in ^qthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; ⁴⁹they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as ^rAbel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

Drive Out the Inhabitants

⁵⁰And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ⁵¹“Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^sWhen you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ⁵²then ^tyou shall drive out ^uall the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their ^vfigured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. ⁵³And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. ^54wYou shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. ^xTo a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. ⁵⁵But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as ^ybarbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. ⁵⁶And I will do to you ^zas I thought to do to them.”

Boundaries of the Land

34The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ²“Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter ^athe land of Canaan ^b(this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), ^3cyour south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of ^dthe Salt Sea on the east. ⁴And your border shall turn south of ^ethe ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to ^eHazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. ⁵And the border shall turn ^ffrom Azmon to ^gthe Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

⁶“For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its¹ coast. This shall be your western border.

⁷“This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to ^hMount Hor. ⁸From Mount Hor you shall draw a line ⁱto Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at ^jZedad. ⁹Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at ^kHazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

¹⁰“You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. ¹¹And the border shall go down from Shepham to ^lRiblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of ^mthe Sea of Chinnereth on the east. ¹²And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at ⁿthe Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

¹³Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, ^o“This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. ^14pFor the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers’ houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers’ houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. ¹⁵The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

List of Tribal Chiefs

¹⁶The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: ^qEleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸You shall take one ^rchief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. ¹⁹These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ²⁰Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. ²¹Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. ²²Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. ²³Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. ²⁴And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. ²⁵Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. ²⁶Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. ²⁷And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. ²⁸Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” ²⁹These are the men whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35The Lord spoke to Moses in ^sthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, ^2t“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. ³The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. ⁴The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits¹ all around. ⁵And you shall measure, outside the city, on the east side two thousand cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

⁶“The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^uthe six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. ⁷All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^vforty-eight, with their pasturelands. ⁸And as for the cities that you shall give ^wfrom the possession of the people of Israel, ^xfrom the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰“Speak to the people of…