Numbers 34

Contemporary English Version

Israel's Borders

34 The Lord told Moses ² to tell the people of Israel that their land in Canaan would have the following borders:

³ The southern border will be the Zin Desert and the northwest part of Edom. This border will begin at the south end of the Dead Sea. ⁴ It will go west from there, but will turn southward to include Scorpion Pass, the village of Zin, and the town of Kadesh-Barnea. From there, the border will continue to Hazar-Addar and on to Azmon. ⁵ It will run along the Egyptian Gorge and end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁶ The western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.

⁷ The northern border will begin at the Mediterranean, then continue eastward to Mount Hor.^{[a] 8} After that, it will run to Lebo-Hamath and across to Zedad, which is the northern edge of your land. ⁹ From Zedad, the border will continue east to Ziphron and end at Hazar-Enan.

¹⁰ The eastern border will begin at Hazar-Enan in the north, then run south to Shepham, ¹¹ and on down to Riblah on the east side of Ain. From there, it will go south to the eastern hills of Lake Galilee,^{[b] 12} then follow the Jordan River down to the north end of the Dead Sea.

The land within those four borders will belong to you.

^13 (A)(B) Then Moses told the people, “You will receive the land inside these borders. It will be yours, but the Lord has commanded you to divide it among the nine and a half tribes. ¹⁴ The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh have already been given their land ¹⁵ across from Jericho, east of the Jordan River.”

The Leaders Who Will Divide the Land

¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, ¹⁷ “Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun will divide the land for the Israelites. ¹⁸ One leader from each tribe will help them, ^19-28 and here is the list of their names:

²⁹ These are the men the Lord commanded to help Eleazar and Joshua divide the land for the Israelites.