Through My Bible Yr 1 – April 1

Numbers 33

Stages in Israel’s Journey

¹ Here are the stages in the journey of the Israelites when they came out of Egypt by divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. ²At the LORD’s command Moses recorded the stages in their journey. This is their journey by stages:

³ The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out boldly in full view of all the Egyptians, ⁴ who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had brought judgment on their gods.

⁵ The Israelites left Rameses and camped at Succoth.

⁶ They left Succoth and camped at Etham, on the edge of the desert.

⁷ They left Etham, turned back to Pi Hahiroth, to the east of Baal Zephon, and camped near Migdol.

⁸ They left Pi Hahiroth ^[a] and passed through the sea into the desert, and when they had traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, they camped at Marah.

⁹ They left Marah and went to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there.

¹⁰ They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea. ^[b]

¹¹ They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin.

¹² They left the Desert of Sin and camped at Dophkah.

¹³ They left Dophkah and camped at Alush.

¹⁴ They left Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

¹⁵ They left Rephidim and camped in the Desert of Sinai.

¹⁶ They left the Desert of Sinai and camped at Kibroth Hattaavah.

¹⁷ They left Kibroth Hattaavah and camped at Hazeroth.

¹⁸ They left Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah.

¹⁹ They left Rithmah and camped at Rimmon Perez.

²⁰ They left Rimmon Perez and camped at Libnah.

²¹ They left Libnah and camped at Rissah.

²² They left Rissah and camped at Kehelathah.

²³ They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher.

²⁴ They left Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah.

²⁵ They left Haradah and camped at Makheloth.

²⁶ They left Makheloth and camped at Tahath.

²⁷ They left Tahath and camped at Terah.

²⁸ They left Terah and camped at Mithcah.

²⁹ They left Mithcah and camped at Hashmonah.

³⁰ They left Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth.

³¹ They left Moseroth and camped at Bene Jaakan.

³² They left Bene Jaakan and camped at Hor Haggidgad.

³³ They left Hor Haggidgad and camped at Jotbathah.

³⁴ They left Jotbathah and camped at Abronah.

³⁵ They left Abronah and camped at Ezion Geber.

³⁶ They left Ezion Geber and camped at Kadesh, in the Desert of Zin.

³⁷ They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom. ³⁸ At the LORD’s command Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor, where he died on the first day of the fifth month of the fortieth year after the Israelites came out of Egypt. ³⁹ Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.

⁴⁰ The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

⁴¹ They left Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah.

⁴² They left Zalmonah and camped at Punon.

⁴³ They left Punon and camped at Oboth.

⁴⁴ They left Oboth and camped at Iye Abarim, on the border of Moab.

⁴⁵ They left Iyim ^[c] and camped at Dibon Gad.

⁴⁶ They left Dibon Gad and camped at Almon Diblathaim.

⁴⁷ They left Almon Diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim, near Nebo.

⁴⁸ They left the mountains of Abarim and camped on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. ^[d]49 There on the plains of Moab they camped along the Jordan from Beth Jeshimoth to Abel Shittim.

⁵⁰ On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho the LORD said to Moses, ⁵¹ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, ⁵² drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. ⁵⁴ Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes.

⁵⁵ ” ‘But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live. ⁵⁶ And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them.’ ”

Numbers 34

Boundaries of Canaan

¹ The LORD said to Moses, ²“Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan, the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance will have these boundaries:

³ ” ‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin along the border of Edom. On the east, your southern boundary will start from the end of the Salt Sea, ^[e]4 cross south of Scorpion ^[f] Pass, continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon, ⁵ where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt and end at the Sea. ^[g]

⁶ ” ‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Great Sea. This will be your boundary on the west.

⁷ ” ‘For your northern boundary, run a line from the Great Sea to Mount Hor ⁸ and from Mount Hor to Lebo ^[h] Hamath. Then the boundary will go to Zedad, ⁹ continue to Ziphron and end at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary on the north.

¹⁰ ” ‘For your eastern boundary, run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. ¹¹ The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Kinnereth. ^[i]12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea.
” ‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’ ”

¹³ Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot as an inheritance. The LORD has ordered that it be given to the nine and a half tribes, ¹⁴ because the families of the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance. ¹⁵ These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan of Jericho, ^[j] toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ The LORD said to Moses, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who are to assign the land for you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸ And appoint one leader from each tribe to help assign the land. ¹⁹ These are their names:
Caleb son of Jephunneh,
from the tribe of Judah;

²⁰ Shemuel son of Ammihud,
from the tribe of Simeon;

²¹ Elidad son of Kislon,
from the tribe of Benjamin;

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

²³ Hanniel son of Ephod,
the leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;

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

²⁵ Elizaphan son of Parnach,
the leader from the tribe of Zebulun;

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

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

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

²⁹ These are the men the LORD commanded to assign the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Numbers 35

Towns for the Levites

¹ On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho, ^[k] the LORD said to Moses, ² “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands around the towns. ³Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for their cattle, flocks and all their other livestock.

⁴ “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend out fifteen hundred feet ^[l] from the town wall. ⁵ Outside the town, measure three thousand feet ^[m] on the east side, three thousand on the south side, three thousand on the west and three thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.

Cities of Refuge

⁶ “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee. In addition, give them forty-two other towns. ⁷ In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. ⁸The towns you give the Levites from the land the Israelites possess are to be given in proportion to the inheritance of each tribe: Take many towns from a tribe that has many, but few from one that has few.”

⁹ Then the LORD said to Moses: ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, ¹¹ select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone accidentally may flee. ¹² They will be places of refuge from the avenger, so that a person accused of murder may not die before he stands trial before the assembly. ¹³ These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge. ¹⁴ Give three on this side of the Jordan and three in Canaan as cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six towns will be a place of refuge for Israelites, aliens and any other people living among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.

¹⁶ ” ‘If a man strikes someone with an iron object so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁷ Or if anyone has a stone in his hand that could kill, and he strikes someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if anyone has a wooden object in his hand that could kill, and he hits someone so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall be put to death. ¹⁹ The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ²⁰ If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at him intentionally so that he dies ²¹ or if in hostility he hits him with his fist so that he dies, that person shall be put to death; he is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² ” ‘But if without hostility someone suddenly shoves another or throws something at him unintentionally ²³ or, without seeing him, drops a stone on him that could kill him, and he dies, then since he was not his enemy and he did not intend to harm him, ²⁴ the assembly must judge between him and the avenger of blood according to these regulations. ²⁵ The assembly must protect the one accused of murder from the avenger of blood and send him back to the city of refuge to which he fled. He must stay there until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.

²⁶ ” ‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which he has fled ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. ²⁸ The accused must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may he return to his own property.

²⁹ ” ‘These are to be legal requirements for you throughout the generations to come, wherever you live.

³⁰ ” ‘Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.

³¹ ” ‘Do not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. He must surely be put to death.

³² ” ‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow him to go back and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

³³ ” ‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it. ³⁴ Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell, for I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites.’ ”

Numbers 36

Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters

¹ The family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the leaders, the heads of the Israelite families. ² They said, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ Now suppose they marry men from other Israelite tribes; then their inheritance will be taken from our ancestral inheritance and added to that of the tribe they marry into. And so part of the inheritance allotted to us will be taken away. ⁴When the Year of Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their property will be taken from the tribal inheritance of our forefathers.”

⁵ Then at the LORD’s command Moses gave this order to the Israelites: “What the tribe of the descendants of Joseph is saying is right. ⁶ This is what the LORD commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within the tribal clan of their father. ⁷ No inheritance in Israel is to pass from tribe to tribe, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal land inherited from his forefathers. ⁸ Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

¹⁰ So Zelophehad’s daughters did as the LORD commanded Moses. ¹¹ Zelophehad’s daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah—married their cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in their father’s clan and tribe.

¹³ These are the commands and regulations the LORD gave through Moses to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho. ^[n]

Footnotes:

1. Numbers 33:8 Many manuscripts of the Masoretic Text, Samaritan Pentateuch and Vulgate; most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text left from before Hahiroth
2. Numbers 33:10 Hebrew Yam Suph ; that is, Sea of Reeds; also in verse 11
3. Numbers 33:45 That is, Iye Abarim
4. Numbers 33:48 Hebrew Jordan of Jericho ; possibly an ancient name for the Jordan River; also in verse 50
5. Numbers 34:3 That is, the Dead Sea; also in verse 12
6. Numbers 34:4 Hebrew Akrabbim
7. Numbers 34:5 That is, the Mediterranean; also in verses 6 and
8. Numbers 34:8 Or to the entrance to
9. Numbers 34:11 That is, Galilee
10. Numbers 34:15 Jordan of Jericho was possibly an ancient name for the Jordan River.
11. Numbers 35:1 Hebrew Jordan of Jericho ; possibly an ancient name for the Jordan River
12. Numbers 35:4 Hebrew a thousand cubits (about 450 meters)
13. Numbers 35:5 Hebrew two thousand cubits (about 900 meters)
14. Numbers 36:13 Hebrew Jordan of Jericho ; possibly an ancient name for the Jordan River