Numbers 34–35

Chapter 34

Instruction for Apportioning Canaan

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

²“Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter ^athe land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to its borders.

³‘^aYour southern ¹sector shall ²extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt Sea ^beastward.

⁴‘Then your border shall turn direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and ¹continue to Zin, and its ²termination shall be to the south of ^aKadesh-barnea; and it shall ³reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon.

⁵‘The border shall turn direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at ^athe sea.

⁶‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its ¹coastline; this shall be your west border.

⁷‘^aAnd this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor.

⁸‘You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to ^athe ¹Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad;

⁹and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your north border.

¹⁰‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan to Shepham,

¹¹and the border shall go down from Shepham to ^aRiblah on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down and reach to the ¹slope on the east side of the Sea of ^bChinnereth.

¹²‘And the border shall go down to the Jordan and its termination shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’ ”

¹³So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “^aThis is the land that you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes.

¹⁴“^aFor the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession.

¹⁵“The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising.”

¹⁶Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁷“^aThese are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹⁸“You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance.

¹⁹“These are the names of the men: of the tribe of ^aJudah, ^bCaleb the son of Jephunneh.

²⁰“Of the tribe of the sons of ^aSimeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud.

²¹“Of the tribe of ^aBenjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.

²²“Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli.

²³“Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod.

²⁴“Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.

²⁵“Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.

²⁶“Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan.

²⁷“Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.

²⁸“Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”

²⁹These are those whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Chapter 35

Cities for the Levites

^1aNow the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite Jericho, saying,

²“Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture lands around the cities.

³“The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts.

⁴“The pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall extend from the wall of the city ¹outward a thousand cubits around.

⁵“You shall also 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, with the city in the center. This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.

Cities of Refuge

⁶“The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the ^asix cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities.

⁷“All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be ^aforty-eight cities, ¹together with their pasture lands.

⁸“^aAs for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his possession which he inherits.”

⁹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

¹⁰“^aSpeak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

^11athen you shall select for yourselves cities to be your ^bcities of refuge, that the manslayer who has ¹killed any person ^cunintentionally may flee there.

¹²‘^aThe cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for ¹trial.

¹³‘The cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge.

¹⁴‘You ^ashall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities ¹in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge.

¹⁵‘These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel, and for the alien and for the sojourner among them; that anyone who ¹kills a person ^aunintentionally may flee there.

¹⁶‘^aBut if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁷‘If he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer ^ashall surely be put to death.

¹⁸‘Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he might die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.

¹⁹‘The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him.

²⁰‘^aIf he pushed him of hatred, or threw something at him ^blying in wait and as a result he died,

²¹or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death, he is a murderer; the blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²²‘^aBut if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or threw something at him without lying in wait,

²³or with any ¹deadly object of stone, and without seeing it dropped on him so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury,

²⁴then ^athe congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these ordinances.

²⁵‘The congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶‘But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee,

²⁷and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge, and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will not be guilty of blood

²⁸because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return to the land of his possession.

²⁹‘These things shall be for a ^astatutory ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

³⁰‘^aIf anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the ¹evidence of witnesses, but ^bno person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.

³¹‘Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.

³²‘You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to live in the land ¹before the death of the priest.

³³‘^aSo you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except ^bby the blood of him who shed it.

³⁴‘You shall not ^adefile the land in which you live, in the midst of which ^bI dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’ ”