Reuben and Gad Settle in Gilead

32 Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. And they saw the land of ^vJazer and the land of Gilead, and behold, the place was a place for livestock. 2 So the people of Gad and the people of Reuben came and said to Moses and to Eleazar the priest and to the chiefs of the congregation, 3 ^w“Ataroth, ^xDibon, Jazer, Nimrah, Heshbon, Elealeh, Sebam, ^yNebo, and Beon, 4 the land ^zthat the Lord struck down before the congregation of Israel, is a land for livestock, and your servants have livestock.” 5 And they said, “If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession. Do not take us across the Jordan.”

6 But Moses said to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben, “Shall your brothers go to the war while you sit here? 7 Why will you discourage the heart of the people of Israel from going over into the land that the Lord has given them? 8 Your fathers did this, ^awhen I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 9 For when they went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the heart of the people of Israel from going into the land that the Lord had given them. 10 ^bAnd the Lord’s anger was kindled on that day, and he swore, saying, 11 ‘Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, ^cfrom twenty years old and upward, shall see the land that I swore to give ^dto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, because they have not wholly followed me, 12 none except Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^eKenizzite and Joshua the son of Nun, for ^fthey have wholly followed the Lord.’ 13 And the Lord’s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them ^gwander in the wilderness forty years, until ^hall the generation that had done evil in the sight of the Lord was gone. 14 And behold, you have risen in your fathers’ place, a brood of sinful men, to increase still more the fierce anger of the Lord against Israel! 15 For if you ⁱturn away from following him, he will again abandon them in the wilderness, and you will destroy all this people.”

16 Then they came near to him and said, ^j“We will build sheepfolds here for our livestock, and cities for our little ones, 17 but ^kwe will take up arms, ready to go before the people of Israel, until we have brought them to their place. And our little ones shall live in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 ^lWe will not return to our homes until each of the people of Israel has gained his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan and beyond, ^mbecause our inheritance has come to us on this side of the Jordan to the east.” 20 So ⁿMoses said to them, “If you will do this, if you will take up arms to go before the Lord for the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before the Lord, until he has ^odriven out his enemies from before him 22 and the land is subdued before the Lord; then after that you shall return and be free of obligation to the Lord and to Israel, and ^pthis land shall be your possession before the Lord. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the Lord, and ^qbe sure your sin will find you out. 24 ^rBuild cities for your little ones and folds for your sheep, and do what you have promised.” 25 And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben said to Moses, “Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 ^sOur little ones, our wives, our livestock, and all our cattle shall remain there in the cities of Gilead, 27 ^tbut your servants will pass over, every man who is ^uarmed for war, before the Lord to battle, as my lord orders.”

28 So ^vMoses gave command concerning them to Eleazar the priest and to ^wJoshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. 29 And Moses said to them, “If the people of Gad and the people of Reuben, every man who is armed to battle before the Lord, will pass with you over the Jordan and the land shall be subdued before you, then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession. 30 However, if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan.” 31 And the people of Gad and the people of Reuben answered, “What the Lord has said to your servants, we will do. 32 We will pass over armed before the Lord into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance shall remain with us beyond the Jordan.”

33 And ^xMoses gave to them, to the people of Gad and to the people of Reuben and to the half-tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land and its cities with their territories, the cities of the land throughout the country. 34 And the people of Gad built ^yDibon, ^zAtaroth, ^aAroer, 35 Atroth-shophan, ^bJazer, Jogbehah, 36 ^cBeth-nimrah and Beth-haran, ^dfortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 And the people of Reuben built ^eHeshbon, ^yElealeh, Kiriathaim, 38 ^fNebo, and ^gBaal-meon (^htheir names were changed), and ^cSibmah. And they gave other names to the cities that they built. 39 And the sons of ⁱMachir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead and captured it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were in it. 40 And Moses ^jgave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it. 41 And ^kJair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.¹ 42 And Nobah went and captured Kenath and its villages, and called it Nobah, after his own name.

Recounting Israel’s Journey

33 These are the stages of the people of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their companies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote down their starting places, ^lstage by stage, by command of the Lord, and these are their stages according to their starting places. 3 They ^mset out from Rameses in ⁿthe first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month. On the day after the Passover, the people of Israel went out ^otriumphantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, ^pwhom the Lord had struck down among them. ^qOn their gods also the Lord executed judgments.

5 So the people of Israel set out from Rameses and camped at ^rSuccoth. 6 And they set out from Succoth and camped at ^sEtham, which is on the edge of the wilderness. 7 And they set out from Etham and turned back to ^tPi-hahiroth, which is east of Baal-zephon, and they camped before Migdol. 8 And they set out from before Hahiroth¹ and ^upassed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and they ^vwent a three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham and camped at Marah. 9 And they set out from Marah and came to ^wElim; at Elim there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they camped there. 10 And they set out from Elim and camped by the Red Sea. 11 And they set out from the Red Sea and camped in ^xthe wilderness of Sin. 12 And they set out from the wilderness of Sin and camped at Dophkah. 13 And they set out from Dophkah and camped at Alush. 14 And they set out from Alush and camped at ^yRephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15 And they set out from Rephidim and camped in the ^zwilderness of Sinai. 16 And they set out from the wilderness of Sinai and camped at ^aKibroth-hattaavah. 17 And they set out from Kibroth-hattaavah and camped at ^bHazeroth. 18 And they ^cset out from Hazeroth and camped at Rithmah. 19 And they set out from Rithmah and camped at Rimmon-perez. 20 And they set out from Rimmon-perez and camped at Libnah. 21 And they set out from Libnah and camped at Rissah. 22 And they set out from Rissah and camped at Kehelathah. 23 And they set out from Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 And they set out from Mount Shepher and camped at Haradah. 25 And they set out from Haradah and camped at Makheloth. 26 And they set out from Makheloth and camped at Tahath. 27 And they set out from Tahath and camped at Terah. 28 And they set out from Terah and camped at Mithkah. 29 And they set out from Mithkah and camped at Hashmonah. 30 And they set out from Hashmonah and camped at Moseroth. 31 And they set out from Moseroth and camped at ^dBene-jaakan. 32 And they set out from Bene-jaakan and camped at ^eHor-haggidgad. 33 And they set out from Hor-haggidgad and camped at ^eJotbathah. 34 And they set out from Jotbathah and camped at Abronah. 35 And they set out from Abronah and camped at ^fEzion-geber. 36 And they set out from Ezion-geber and camped in the ^gwilderness of Zin (that is, Kadesh). 37 And they set out from ^hKadesh and camped at ⁱMount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom.

38 And Aaron the priest went up ^jMount Hor at the command of the Lord and died there, in the fortieth year after the people of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 And Aaron was ^k123 years old when he died on Mount Hor.

40 And ^lthe Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the people of Israel.

41 And they set out from Mount Hor and camped at Zalmonah. 42 And they set out from Zalmonah and camped at Punon. 43 And they set out from Punon and camped at ^mOboth. 44 And they set out from Oboth and camped at ⁿIye-abarim, in the territory of Moab. 45 And they set out from Iyim and camped at ^oDibon-gad. 46 And they set out from Dibon-gad and camped at Almon-diblathaim. 47 And they set out from Almon-diblathaim ^pand camped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 And they set out from the mountains of Abarim and camped in ^qthe plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho; 49 they camped by the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as ^rAbel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

Drive Out the Inhabitants

50 And the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ^sWhen you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then ^tyou shall drive out ^uall the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their ^vfigured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54 ^wYou shall inherit the land by lot according to your clans. ^xTo a large tribe you shall give a large inheritance, and to a small tribe you shall give a small inheritance. Wherever the lot falls for anyone, that shall be his. According to the tribes of your fathers you shall inherit. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those of them whom you let remain shall be as ^ybarbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall trouble you in the land where you dwell. 56 And I will do to you ^zas I thought to do to them.”

Boundaries of the Land

34 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter ^athe land of Canaan ^b(this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders), 3 ^cyour south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of ^dthe Salt Sea on the east. 4 And your border shall turn south of ^ethe ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to ^eHazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon. 5 And the border shall turn ^ffrom Azmon to ^gthe Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.

6 “For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its¹ coast. This shall be your western border.

7 “This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to ^hMount Hor. 8 From Mount Hor you shall draw a line ⁱto Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at ^jZedad. 9 Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at ^kHazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

10 “You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 And the border shall go down from Shepham to ^lRiblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of ^mthe Sea of Chinnereth on the east. 12 And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at ⁿthe Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around.”

13 Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, ^o“This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 ^pFor the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers’ houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers’ houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise.”

List of Tribal Chiefs

16 The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 17 “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: ^qEleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one ^rchief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance. 19 These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20 Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29 These are the men whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.

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.”