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 departed from Rameses ^win the first month, on the fifteenth day of the month. On the day after the Passover ^xthe Israelites went out triumphantly ^yzin 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. ^a5The Israelites departed from Rameses and camped at Succoth. ^b

⁶They departed from Succoth and camped at Etham, ^cwhich is on the edge of the wilderness.

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

⁸They departed from Pi-hahiroth ^eand crossed through the middle of the sea ^finto the wilderness. They took a three-day journey into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. ^g

⁹They departed from Marah and came to Elim. ^hThere were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms at Elim, so they camped there.

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

¹¹They departed from the Red Sea and camped in the Wilderness of Sin. ⁱ

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

¹³They departed from Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴They departed from Alush and camped at Rephidim, ^jwhere there was no water for the people to drink. ^k

¹⁵They departed from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai. ^l

¹⁶They departed from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah. ^m

¹⁷They departed from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth. ⁿ

¹⁸They departed from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

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

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

²¹They departed from Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²²They departed from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³They departed from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴They departed from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵They departed from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶They departed from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷They departed from Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸They departed from Terah and camped at Mithkah.

²⁹They departed from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰They departed from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹They departed from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan. ^o

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

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

³⁴They departed from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵They departed from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber. ^p

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

³⁷They departed from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor ^ron the edge of the land of Edom. ³⁸At the Lord’s command, Aaron the priest 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. ^s39Aaron 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, ^theard the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹They departed from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴²They departed from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³They departed from Punon and camped at Oboth. ^u

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

⁴⁵They departed from Iyim ^wand camped at Dibon-gad. ^x

⁴⁶They departed from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. ^y

⁴⁷They departed from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the Abarim ^zrange facing Nebo. ^a

⁴⁸They departed from the Abarim range and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. ^b49They camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth ^cto the Acacia Meadow ^deon 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 ^fand cast images, ^gand demolish all their high places. ⁵³You are to take possession of the land and settle in it because I have given you the land ^hto 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 thorns in your eyes and in 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.” ⁱ

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 ^jwith 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 Ascent of Akrabbim, ^kproceed to Zin, and end south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon. ^l5The border will turn from Azmon ^mto the Brook of Egypt, ⁿwhere 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; ^op8from Mount Hor draw a line to the entrance of Hamath, ^qrand the border will reach Zedad. ^s9Then the border will go to Ziphron and end at Hazar-enan. ^tThis 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. ^uIt will continue down and reach the eastern slope of the Sea of Chinnereth. ^vw12Then 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 the Reubenites and the tribe of the Gadites have received their inheritance according to their ancestral houses, and half the tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. ¹⁵The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance ^xacross the Jordan from Jericho, eastward 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: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸Take one leader from each tribe to distribute the land. ¹⁹These are the names of the men:

Caleb ^yson of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;

²⁰Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon;

²¹Elidad son of Chislon from the tribe of Benjamin;

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

²³from the sons of Joseph:

Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh,

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

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

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

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

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

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: ^z2“Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities. ^a3The 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 500 yards ^bon every side. ⁵Measure 1,000 yards ^coutside the city for the east side, 1,000 yards ^dfor the south side, 1,000 yards ^efor the west side, and 1,000 yards ^ffor 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, ^gwhich you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities. ^h7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be 48, along with their pasturelands. ⁱ⁸Of the cities that you give from the Israelites’ territory, you should take more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one. ^jEach 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. ^k12You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, ^lso 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. ^m15These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶“If anyone strikes a person with an iron object and death results, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to…