Cities for the Levites

35 The Lord spoke to Moses in ^sthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 ^t“Command the people of Israel to give to the Levites some of the inheritance of their possession as cities for them to dwell in. And you shall give to the Levites pasturelands around the cities. 3 The cities shall be theirs to dwell in, and their pasturelands shall be for their cattle and for their livestock and for all their beasts. 4 The pasturelands of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall reach from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits¹ all around. 5 And you shall 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, the city being in the middle. This shall belong to them as pastureland for their cities.

6 “The cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^uthe six cities of refuge, where you shall permit the manslayer to flee, and in addition to them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities that you give to the Levites shall be ^vforty-eight, with their pasturelands. 8 And as for the cities that you shall give ^wfrom the possession of the people of Israel, ^xfrom the larger tribes you shall take many, and from the smaller tribes you shall take few; each, in proportion to the inheritance that it inherits, shall give of its cities to the Levites.”

Cities of Refuge

9 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^yWhen you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 ^zthen you shall select cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person without intent may flee there. 12 The cities shall be for you a refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 And the cities that you give shall be your ^asix cities of refuge. 14 ^bYou shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities in the land of Canaan, to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities shall be for refuge for the people of Israel, and ^cfor the stranger and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills any person without intent may flee there.

16 ^d“But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 17 And if he struck him down with a stone tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him down with a wooden tool that could cause death, and he died, he is a murderer. The murderer shall be put to death. 19 ^eThe avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 And if he pushed him out of hatred or hurled something at him, ^flying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him down with his hand, so that he died, then he who struck the blow shall be put to death. He is a murderer. ^eThe avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

22 “But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or hurled anything on him ^gwithout lying in wait 23 or used a stone that could cause death, and without seeing him dropped it on him, so that he died, though he was not his enemy and did not seek his harm, 24 then ^hthe congregation shall judge between the manslayer and ^ethe avenger of blood, in accordance with these rules. 25 And the congregation shall rescue the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which he had fled, and he shall live in it ⁱuntil the death of the high priest ^jwho was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the boundaries of his city of refuge to which he fled, 27 and ^ethe avenger of blood finds him outside the boundaries of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood. 28 For he must remain in his city of refuge ⁱuntil the death of the high priest, but after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession. 29 And these things shall be for ^ka statute and rule for you throughout your generations in all your dwelling places.

30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^levidence of witnesses. But no person shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness. 31 Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. 32 And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. 33 You shall not ^mpollute the land in which you live, for blood ^mpollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except ⁿby the blood of the one who shed it. 34 ^oYou shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which I dwell, ^pfor I the Lord dwell in the midst of the people of Israel.”

Marriage of Female Heirs

36 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the ^qpeople of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, ^r“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and ^smy lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when ^tthe jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph ^uis right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, ^vonly they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel ^wshall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And ^xevery daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”

10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, 11 ^yfor Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.

13 These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel ^zin the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

Deuteronomy

The Command to Leave Horeb

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in ^athe Arabah opposite ^bSuph, between ^cParan and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. 2 It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to ^dKadesh-barnea. 3 ^eIn the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him in commandment to them, 4 after ^fhe had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ^gOg the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth and in ^hEdrei. 5 Beyond the Jordan, ⁱin the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this law, saying, 6 “The Lord our God said to us in Horeb, ^j‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Turn and take your journey, and go to ^kthe hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in ^athe Arabah, ^lin the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negeb and ^lby the seacoast, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. 8 See, I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, ^mto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their offspring after them.’

Leaders Appointed

9 “At that time ⁿI said to you, ‘I am not able to bear you by myself. 10 The Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, ^oyou are today as numerous as the stars of heaven. 11 ^pMay the Lord, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are and bless you, ^qas he has promised you! 12 ^rHow can I bear by myself the weight and burden of you and your strife? 13 ^sChoose for your tribes wise, understanding, and experienced men, and I will appoint them as your heads.’ 14 And you answered me, ‘The thing that you have spoken is good for us to do.’ 15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise and experienced men, ^tand set them as heads over you, commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers, throughout your tribes. 16 And I charged your judges at that time, ‘Hear the cases between your brothers, and ^ujudge righteously between a man and his brother or the alien who is with him. 17 ^vYou shall not be partial in judgment. You shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not be intimidated by anyone, for ^wthe judgment is God’s. And the case that is too hard for you, you shall ^xbring to me, and I will hear it.’ 18 And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land

19 “Then we set out from Horeb and ^ywent through all that great and terrifying wilderness that you saw, on the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as the Lord our God commanded us. And ^zwe came to Kadesh-barnea. 20 And I said to you, ‘You have come to the hill country of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. 21 See, the Lord your God has set the land before you. Go up, take possession, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has told you. ^aDo not fear or be dismayed.’ 22 Then all of you came near me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, that they may explore the land for us and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up and the cities into which we shall come.’ 23 The thing seemed good to me, and ^bI took twelve men from you, one man from each tribe. 24 And ^cthey turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Valley of Eshcol and spied it out. 25 And they took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us word again and said, ‘It is a good land that the Lord our God is giving us.’

26 “Yet you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. 27 And ^dyou murmured in your tents and said, ‘Because the Lord ^ehated us he has brought us out of the land of Egypt, ^fto give us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. 28 Where are we going up? ^gOur brothers have made our hearts melt, saying, ^h“The people are greater and taller than we. The cities are great and fortified up to heaven. And besides, we have seen ⁱthe sons of the Anakim there.”’ 29 Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. 30 The Lord your God who goes before you ^jwill himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, 31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God ^kcarried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’ 32 Yet in spite of this word ^lyou did not believe the Lord your God, 33 ^mwho went before you in the way ⁿto seek you out a place to pitch your tents, in fire by night and in the cloud by day, to show you by what way you should go.

The Penalty for Israel’s Rebellion

34 “And the Lord heard your words and was angered, and he swore, 35 ^o‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers, 36 ^pexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh. He shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land on which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the Lord!’ 37 Even with me ^qthe Lord was angry on your account and said, ‘You also shall not go in there. 38 ^rJoshua the son of Nun, ^rwho stands before you, he shall enter. ^sEncourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. 39 And as for ^tyour little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today ^uhave no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. 40 But as for you, ^vturn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’

41 “Then you answered me, ^w‘We have sinned against the Lord. We ourselves will go up and fight, just as the Lord our God commanded us.’ And every one of you fastened on his weapons of war and thought it easy to go up into the hill country. 42 And the Lord said to me, ^x‘Say to them, Do not go up or fight, ^yfor I am not in your midst, lest you be defeated before your enemies.’ 43 So I spoke to you, and you would not listen; but you rebelled against the command of the Lord and ^zpresumptuously went up into the hill country. 44 ^aThen the Amorites who lived in that hill country came out against you and chased you ^bas bees do and beat you down in Seir as far as ^cHormah. 45 And you returned and wept before the Lord, but the Lord did not listen to your voice or give ear to you. 46 So ^dyou remained at Kadesh many days, the days that you remained there.

The Wilderness Years

2 “Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, ^eas the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. 2 Then the Lord said to me, 3 ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country ^flong enough. Turn northward 4 and command the people, “You are about to pass through the territory of ^gyour brothers, the people of Esau, ^hwho live in Seir; and ⁱthey will be afraid of you. So be very careful. 5 Do not contend with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on, because ^hI have given Mount Seir to Esau as a possession. 6 ^jYou shall purchase food from them with money, that you may eat, and you shall also buy water from them with money, that you may drink. 7 For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. ^kHe knows your going through this great wilderness. ^lThese forty years the Lord your God has been with you. You have lacked nothing.”’ 8 So ^mwe went on, away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir, away from ⁿthe Arabah road from ^oElath and ^pEzion-geber.

“And we turned and went in the direction of the wilderness of Moab. 9 And the Lord said to me, ^q‘Do not harass Moab or contend with them in battle, for I will not give you any of their land for a possession, because I have given ^rAr to ^sthe people of Lot for a possession.’ 10 (^tThe Emim formerly lived there, ^ua people great and many, and tall ^vas the Anakim. 11 Like the Anakim they are also counted as ^wRephaim, but the Moabites call them Emim. 12 ^xThe Horites also lived in Seir formerly, but the people of Esau dispossessed them and destroyed them from before them and settled in their place, ^yas Israel did to the land of their possession, which the Lord gave to them.) 13 ‘Now rise up and go over ^zthe brook Zered.’ So we went over ^zthe brook Zered. 14 And the time from our leaving ^aKadesh-barnea until we crossed ^bthe brook Zered was thirty-eight years, ^cuntil the entire generation, that is, the men of war, had perished from the camp, as the Lord had sworn to them. 15 For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from the camp, until they had perished.

16 “So as soon as all the men of war had perished and were dead from among the people, 17 the Lord said to me, 18 ‘Today you are to cross the border of Moab at Ar. 19 And when you approach the territory of the people of Ammon, ^ddo not harass them or contend with them, for I will not give you any of the land of the people of Ammon as a possession, because I have given it to ^ethe sons of Lot for a possession.’ 20 (It is also counted as a land of ^fRephaim. Rephaim formerly lived there—but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim— 21 ^ga people great and many, and tall as the Anakim; but the Lord destroyed them before the Ammonites,¹ and they dispossessed them and settled in their place, 22 as he did for the people of Esau, who live in Seir, when he destroyed ^hthe Horites before them and they dispossessed them and settled in their place even to this day. 23 As for ⁱthe Avvim, who lived in villages as far as ^jGaza, ^kthe Caphtorim, who came from Caphtor, destroyed them and settled in their place.) 24 ‘Rise up, set out on your journey and ^lgo over the Valley of the Arnon. Behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of ^mHeshbon, and his land. Begin to take possession, and ⁿcontend with him in battle. 25 This day I will begin to put ^othe dread and fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole heaven, who shall hear the report of you and shall tremble and be in anguish because of you.’

The Defeat of King Sihon

26 “So I sent messengers from the wilderness of ^pKedemoth to Sihon the king of ^mHeshbon, ^qwith words of peace, saying, 27 ^r‘Let me pass through your land. I will go only by the road; I will turn aside neither to the right nor to the left. 28 ^sYou shall sell me food for money, that I may eat, and give me water for money, that I may drink. Only let me pass through on foot, 29 ^tas the sons of Esau who live in Seir and the Moabites who live in Ar did for me, until I go over the Jordan into the land that the Lord our God is giving to us.’ 30 But ^uSihon the king of ^mHeshbon would not let us pass by him, for the Lord your God ^vhardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, that he might give him into your hand, as he is this day. 31 And the Lord said to me, ‘Behold, I have begun to give Sihon and his land over to you. Begin to take possession, that you may occupy his land.’ 32 Then ^wSihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz. 33 And ^xthe Lord our God gave him over to us, and ^ywe defeated him and his sons and all his people. 34 And we captured all his cities at that time and devoted to destruction² every ^zcity, men, women, and children. We left no survivors. 35 Only the livestock we took as spoil for ourselves, with the plunder of the cities that we captured. 36 ^aFrom Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from ^bthe city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. ^cThe Lord our God gave all into our hands. 37 Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river ^dJabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us.