Bible-Reading.comNumbers 32
1Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.
2So the Gadites and Reubenites came to Moses, Eleazar the priest, and the leaders of the congregation, and said,
3“Ataroth, Dibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, Nebo, and Beon,
4which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.”
5“If we have found favor in your sight,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”
6But Moses asked the Gadites and Reubenites, “Shall your brothers go to war while you sit here?
7Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?
8This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land.
9For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them.
10So the anger of the LORD was kindled that day, and He swore an oath, saying,
11‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—
12not one except Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite and Joshua son of Nun—because they did follow the LORD wholeheartedly.’
13The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He made them wander in the wilderness forty years, until the whole generation who had done evil in His sight was gone.
14Now behold, you, a brood of sinners, have risen up in place of your fathers to further stoke the burning anger of the LORD against Israel.
15For if you turn away from following Him, He will once again leave this people in the wilderness, and you will be the cause of their destruction.”
16Then the Gadites and Reubenites approached Moses and said, “We want to build sheepfolds here for our livestock and cities for our little ones.
17But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land.
18We will not return to our homes until every Israelite has taken possession of his inheritance.
19Yet we will not have an inheritance with them across the Jordan and beyond, because our inheritance has come to us on the east side of the Jordan.”
20Moses replied, “If you will do this—if you will arm yourselves before the LORD for battle,
21and if every one of your armed men crosses the Jordan before the LORD, until He has driven His enemies out before Him,
22then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.
23But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.
24Build cities for your little ones and folds for your flocks, but do what you have promised.”
25The Gadites and Reubenites said to Moses, “Your servants will do just as our lord commands.
26Our children, our wives, our livestock, and all our animals will remain here in the cities of Gilead.
27But your servants are equipped for war, and every man will cross over to the battle before the LORD, just as our lord says.”
28So Moses gave orders about them to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the family leaders of the tribes of Israel.
29And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.
30But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”
31The Gadites and Reubenites replied, “As the LORD has spoken to your servants, so we will do.
32We will cross over into the land of Canaan armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.”
33So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.
34And the Gadites built up Dibon, Ataroth, Aroer,
35Atroth-shophan, Jazer, Jogbehah,
36Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and they built folds for their flocks.
37The Reubenites built up Heshbon, Elealeh, Kiriathaim,
38as well as Nebo and Baal-meon (whose names were changed), and Sibmah. And they renamed the cities they rebuilt.
39The descendants of Machir son of Manasseh went to Gilead, captured it, and drove out the Amorites who were there.
40So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled there.
41Jair, a descendant of Manasseh, went and captured their villages and called them Havvoth-jair.
42And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages and called it Nobah, after his own name.
Numbers 33
1These are the journeys of the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.
2At the LORD’s command, Moses recorded the stages of their journey. These are the stages listed by their starting points:
3On the fifteenth day of the first month, on the day after the Passover, the Israelites set out from Rameses. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians,
4who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.
5The Israelites set out from Rameses and camped at Succoth.
6They set out from Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the wilderness.
7They set out from Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, opposite Baal-zephon, and they camped near Migdol.
8They set out from Pi-hahiroth and crossed through the sea, into the wilderness, and they journeyed three days into the Wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah.
9They set out from Marah and came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.
10They set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
11They set out from the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.
12They set out from the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.
13They set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush.
14They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.
15They set out from Rephidim and camped in the Wilderness of Sinai.
16They set out from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at Kibroth-hattaavah.
17They set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.
18They set out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.
19They set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez.
20They set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah.
21They set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah.
22They set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.
23They set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.
24They set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.
25They set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth.
26They set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath.
27They set out from Tahath and camped at Terah.
28They set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah.
29They set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah.
30They set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.
31They set out from Moseroth and camped at Bene-jaakan.
32They set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at Hor-haggidgad.
33They set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.
34They set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.
35They set out from Abronah and camped at Ezion-geber.
36They set out from Ezion-geber and camped at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.
37They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the outskirts 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 had come out of the land of Egypt.
39Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40Now the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.
41And the Israelites set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.
42They set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon.
43They set out from Punon and camped at Oboth.
44They set out from Oboth and camped at Iye-abarim on the border of Moab.
45They set out from Iyim and camped at Dibon-gad.
46They set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim.
47They set out from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim facing Nebo.
48They set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
49And there on the plains of Moab they camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.
50On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, the LORD said to Moses,
51“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
52you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.
53You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.
54And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.
55But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.
56And then I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”
Numbers 34
1Then the LORD said 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 with these boundaries:
3Your southern border will extend from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern border will run from the end of the Salt Sea,
4cross south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and go south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it will go on to Hazar-addar and proceed to Azmon,
5where it will turn from Azmon, join the Brook of Egypt, and end at the Sea.
6Your western border will be the coastline of the Great Sea; this will be your boundary on the west.
7Your northern border will run from the Great Sea directly to Mount Hor,
8and from Mount Hor to Lebo-hamath, then extend to Zedad,
9continue to Ziphron, and end at Hazar-enan. This will be your boundary on the north.
10And your eastern border will run straight from Hazar-enan to Shepham,
11then go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Chinnereth.
12Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.”
13So Moses commanded the Israelites, “Apportion this land by lot as an inheritance. The LORD has commanded that it be given to the nine and a half tribes.
14For the tribes of the Reubenites and Gadites, along with the half-tribe of Manasseh, have already received their inheritance.
15These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan from Jericho, toward the sunrise.”
16Then the LORD said to Moses,
17“These are the names of the men who are to assign the land as an inheritance for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.
18Appoint one leader from each tribe to distribute the land.
19These are their names: Caleb son 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;
23Hanniel son of Ephod, a leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;
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;
28and Pedahel son of Ammihud, a leader from the tribe of Naphtali.”
29These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.
Numbers 35
1Again the LORD spoke to Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho:
2“Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.
3The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, their flocks, and all their other livestock.
4The pasturelands around the cities you are to give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits from the wall on every side.
5You are also to measure two thousand cubits outside the city on the east, two thousand on the south, two thousand on the west, and two thousand on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.
6Six of the cities you give the Levites are to be appointed as cities of refuge, to which a manslayer may flee. In addition to these, give the Levites forty-two other cities.
7The total number of cities you give the Levites will be forty-eight, with their corresponding pasturelands.
8The cities that you apportion from the territory of the Israelites should be given to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: more from a larger tribe and less from a smaller one.”
9Then the 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 your cities of refuge, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.
12You are to have these cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer 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 in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.
15These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or stranger among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
16If, however, anyone strikes a person with an iron object and kills him, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
17Or if anyone has in his hand a stone of deadly size, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
18If anyone has in his hand a deadly object of wood, and he strikes and kills another, he is a murderer; the murderer must surely be put to death.
19The avenger of blood is to put the murderer to death; when he finds him, he is to kill him.
20Likewise, if anyone maliciously pushes another or intentionally throws an object at him and kills him,
21or if in hostility he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death; he is a murderer. When the avenger of blood finds the murderer, he is to kill him.
22But if anyone pushes a person suddenly, without hostility, or throws an object at him unintentionally,
23or without looking drops a heavy stone that kills him, but he was not an enemy and did not intend to harm him,
24then the congregation must judge between the slayer and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances.
25The assembly is to protect the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood. Then the assembly will return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he must live there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
26But if the manslayer ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he fled
27and the avenger of blood finds him outside of his city of refuge and kills him, then the avenger will not be guilty of bloodshed
28because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns.
29This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.
30If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.
31You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.
32Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.
33Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
34Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.”
Numbers 36
1Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them,
2saying, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, He also commanded him to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
3But if they marry any of the men from the other tribes of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the portion of our fathers and added to the tribe into which they marry. So our allotted inheritance would be taken away.
4And when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to the tribe into which they marry and taken away from the tribe of our fathers.”
5So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly.
6This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father.
7No inheritance in Israel may be transferred from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
8Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.
9No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another, for each tribe of Israel must retain its inheritance.”
10So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
11Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to cousins on their father’s side.
12They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
13These are the commandments and ordinances that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.