February 23

Numbers 33:24 — 36:13

24 After that they pulled away from Mount Shepher and went camping in Haradah. 25 Then they pulled away from Haradah and went camping in Makheloth. 26 Next they pulled away from Makheloth and went camping in Tahath. 27 After that they pulled away from Tahath and went camping in Terah. 28 Then they pulled away from Terah and went camping in Mithkah. 29 Later they pulled away from Mithkah and went camping in Hashmonah. 30 Next they pulled away from Hashmonah and went camping in Moseroth. 31 Then they pulled away from Moseroth and went camping in Bene-jaakan. 32 After that they pulled away from Bene-jaakan and went camping in Hor-haggidgad. 33 Next they pulled away from Hor-haggidgad and went camping in Jotbathah. 34 Later they pulled away from Jotbathah and went camping in Abronah. 35 Then they pulled away from Abronah and went camping in Ezion-geber. 36 After that they pulled away from Ezion-geber and went camping in the wilderness of Zin, that is to say, Kadesh.

37 Later they pulled away from Kadesh and went camping in Mount Hor, on the frontier of the land of Edom. 38 And Aaron the priest proceeded to go up into Mount Hor at the order of Jehovah and to die there in the fortieth year of the going out of the sons of Israel from the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first of the month. 39 And Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old at his death on Mount Hor.

40 Now the Canaanite, the king of Arad, as he was dwelling in the Negeb, in the land of Canaan, got to hear about the coming of the sons of Israel.

41 In time they pulled away from Mount Hor and went camping in Zalmonah. 42 After that they pulled away from Zalmonah and went camping in Punon. 43 Next they pulled away from Punon and went camping in Oboth. 44 Then they pulled away from Oboth and went camping in Iye-abarim on the border of Moab. 45 Later they pulled away from Iyim and went camping in Dibon-gad. 46 After that they pulled away from Dibon-gad and went camping in Almon-diblathaim. 47 Then they pulled away from Almon-diblathaim and went camping in the mountains of Abarim before Nebo. 48 Finally they pulled away from the mountains of Abarim and took up camping on the desert plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 49 And they continued camping by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim on the desert plains of Moab.

50 And Jehovah proceeded to speak to Moses on the desert plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: 51 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘YOU are crossing the Jordan into the land of Canaan. 52 And YOU must drive away all the inhabitants of the land from before YOU and destroy all their stone figures, and all their images of molten metal YOU should destroy, and all their sacred high places YOU should annihilate. 53 And YOU must take possession of the land and dwell in it, because to YOU I shall certainly give the land to take possession of it. 54 And YOU must apportion the land to yourselves as a possession by lot according to YOUR families. To the populous one YOU should increase his inheritance, and to the sparse one YOU should reduce his inheritance. To where the lot will come out for him, there it will become his. By the tribes of YOUR fathers YOU should provide yourselves with landed property.

55 “‘If, though, YOU will not drive the inhabitants of the land away from before YOU, then those whom YOU leave of them will certainly become as pricks in YOUR eyes and as thorns in YOUR sides, and they will indeed harass YOU on the land in which YOU will be dwelling. 56 And it must occur that just as I had figured doing to them I shall do to YOU.’”

34 And Jehovah spoke further to Moses, saying: 2 “Command the sons of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘YOU are going into the land of Canaan. This is the land that will fall to YOU by inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries.

3 “‘And YOUR south side must prove to be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and YOUR south boundary must prove to be from the extremity of the Salt Sea on the east. 4 And YOUR boundary must change direction from the south of the ascent of Akrabbim and cross over to Zin, and its termination must prove to be on the south of Kadesh-barnea; and it must go out to Hazar-addar and pass over to Azmon. 5 And the boundary must change direction at Azmon to the torrent valley of Egypt, and its termination must prove to be at the Sea.

6 “‘As for a west boundary, it must prove to be for YOU the Great Sea and the shoreland. This will become YOUR west boundary.

7 “‘Now this will become YOUR north boundary: From the Great Sea YOU will mark out to Mount Hor as a boundary for yourselves. 8 From Mount Hor YOU will mark out the boundary to the entering in of Hamath, and the termination of the boundary must prove to be at Zedad. 9 And the boundary must go out to Ziphron, and its termination must prove to be Hazar-enan. This will become YOUR north boundary.

10 “‘Then YOU must mark for yourselves as YOUR boundary on the east from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the boundary must go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east of Ain, and the border must go down and strike upon the eastern slope of the sea of Chinnereth. 12 And the border must go down to the Jordan, and its termination must prove to be the Salt Sea. This will become YOUR land according to its boundaries all around.’”

13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying: “This is the land that YOU will apportion to yourselves as a possession by lot, just as Jehovah has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 For the tribe of the sons of the Reubenites by the house of their fathers and the tribe of the sons of the Gadites by the house of their fathers have already taken, and the half tribe of Manasseh have already taken their inheritance. 15 The two and a half tribes have already taken their inheritance from the region of the Jordan by Jericho eastward toward the sunrising.”

16 And Jehovah spoke further to Moses, saying: 17 “These are the names of the men who will divide the land to YOU people for a possession, Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 And YOU will take one chieftain out of each tribe to divide the land for a possession. 19 And these are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; 20 and of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud; 21 of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; 22 and of the tribe of the sons of Dan a chieftain, Bukki the son of Jogli; 23 of the sons of Joseph, of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a chieftain, Hanniel the son of Ephod; 24 and of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a chieftain, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; 25 and of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a chieftain, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; 26 and of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a chieftain, Paltiel the son of Azzan; 27 and of the tribe of the sons of Asher a chieftain, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; 28 and of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a chieftain, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the ones whom Jehovah commanded to make the sons of Israel landholders in the land of Canaan.


35 And Jehovah went on to speak to Moses on the desert plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: 2 “Give the sons of Israel the command that they must give the Levites cities to inhabit out of the inheritance of their possession, and they should give the Levites the pasture ground of the cities all around them. 3 And the cities must serve for them to inhabit, while their pasture grounds will serve for their domestic animals and their goods and for all their wild beasts. 4 And the pasture grounds of the cities, which YOU will give the Levites, will be from the wall of the city and out for a thousand cubits all around. 5 And YOU must 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 middle. This will serve them as pasture grounds of the cities.

6 “These are the cities that YOU will give to the Levites: six cities of refuge, which YOU will give for the manslayer to flee there, and besides them YOU will give forty-two other cities. 7 All the cities that YOU will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities, they together with their pasture grounds. 8 The cities that YOU will give will be from the possession of the sons of Israel. From the many YOU will take many, and from the few YOU will take few. Each one, in proportion to his inheritance that he will take as a possession, will give some of his cities to the Levites.”

9 And Jehovah continued to speak to Moses, saying: 10 “Speak to the sons of Israel, and you must say to them, ‘YOU are crossing the Jordan to the land of Canaan. 11 And YOU must choose cities convenient for yourselves. As cities of refuge they will serve for YOU, and the manslayer must flee there who fatally strikes a soul unintentionally. 12 And the cities must serve YOU as a refuge from the blood avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the assembly for judgment. 13 And the cities that YOU will give, the six cities of refuge, will be at YOUR service. 14 Three cities YOU will give on this side of the Jordan, and three cities YOU will give in the land of Canaan. As cities of refuge they will serve. 15 For the sons of Israel and for the alien resident and for the settler in the midst of them these six cities will serve as a refuge, for anyone to flee there that fatally strikes a soul unintentionally.

16 “‘Now if it was with an instrument of iron that he has struck him so that he dies, he is a murderer. Without fail the murderer should be put to death. 17 And if it was with a small stone by which he could die that he has struck him so that he dies, he is a murderer. Without fail the murderer should be put to death. 18 And if it was with a small instrument of wood by which he could die that he has struck him so that he dies, he is a murderer. Without fail the murderer should be put to death.

19 “‘The avenger of blood is the one who will put the murderer to death. When he chances upon him he himself will put him to death. 20 And if in hatred he was pushing him or he has thrown at him while lying in wait that he might die, 21 or in enmity he has struck him with his hand that he might die, without fail the striker should be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood will put the murderer to death when he chances upon him.

22 “‘But if it was unexpectedly without enmity that he has pushed him or has thrown any article toward him without lying in wait, 23 or any stone by which he could die without seeing him or he should cause it to fall upon him, so that he died, while he was not at enmity with him and was not seeking his injury, 24 the assembly must then judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. 25 And the assembly must deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the assembly must return him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he must dwell in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.

26 “‘But if the manslayer without fail goes out of the boundary of his city of refuge to which he may flee, 27 and the avenger of blood does find him outside the boundary of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood does slay the manslayer, he has no bloodguilt. 28 For he ought to dwell in his city of refuge until the high priest’s death, and after the high priest’s death the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these must serve as a statute of judgment for YOU throughout YOUR generations in all YOUR dwelling places.

30 “‘Every fatal striker of a soul should be slain as a murderer at the mouth of witnesses, and one witness may not testify against a soul for him to die. 31 And YOU must take no ransom for the soul of a murderer who is deserving to die, for without fail he should be put to death. 32 And YOU must not take a ransom for one who has fled to his city of refuge, to resume dwelling in the land before the death of the high priest.

33 “‘And YOU must not pollute the land in which YOU are; because it is blood that pollutes the land, and for the land there may be no atonement respecting the blood that has been spilled upon it except by the blood of the one spilling it. 34 And you must not defile the land in which YOU are dwelling, in the midst of which I am residing; for I Jehovah am residing in the midst of the sons of Israel.’”

36 And the heads of the fathers of the family of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir the son of Manasseh of the families of the sons of Joseph proceeded to come near and speak before Moses and the chieftains, the heads of the fathers of the sons of Israel, 2 and say: “Jehovah commanded my lord to give the land in inheritance by lot to the sons of Israel; and my lord was commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If any of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel happened to get them as wives, the women’s inheritance must also be withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers and must be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they may come to belong, so that it would be withdrawn from the lot of our inheritance. 4 Now if the Jubilee takes place for the sons of Israel, the women’s inheritance must also be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they may come to belong; so that their inheritance would be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel at the order of Jehovah, saying: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph is speaking right. 6 This is the word that Jehovah has commanded for the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘To whom it is good in their eyes they may become wives. Only it is to the family of the tribe of their fathers that they should become wives. 7 And no inheritance of the sons of Israel should circulate from tribe to tribe, because the sons of Israel should cleave each one to the inheritance of the tribe of his forefathers. 8 And every daughter getting possession of an inheritance out of the tribes of the sons of Israel, to one of the family of the tribe of her father she should become a wife, in order that the sons of Israel may get possession each one of the inheritance of his forefathers. 9 And no inheritance should circulate from one tribe to another tribe, because the tribes of the sons of Israel should cleave each to its own inheritance.’”

10 Just as Jehovah had commanded Moses, that is the way the daughters of Zelophehad did. 11 Accordingly Mahlah, Tirzah and Hoglah and Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, became the wives of the sons of their father’s brothers. 12 To some of the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph they became wives, that their inheritance might continue together with the tribe of the family of their father.

13 These are the commandments and the judicial decisions that Jehovah commanded by means of Moses to the sons of Israel on the desert plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.