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Numbers 34-36
New Life Version
Numbers 34-36
New Life Version
The Land of Canaan
34 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel, ‘When you go into the land of Canaan, this is the land that will be given to you, all the land of Canaan. 3 Your south side will be from the Desert of Zin along the side of Edom. It will go east from the end of the Salt Sea. 4 Then the side of your land will turn from the south up to the pass of Akrabbim and on to Zin. Its end will be south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go to Hazaraddar and on to Azmon. 5 Then it will turn from Azmon to the river of Egypt, and will end at the sea.
6 ‘The west side of your land will be the shore of the Great Sea.
7 ‘Your north side will be from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. 8 And it will go from Mount Hor to the Lebohamath, and end at Zedad. 9 Then it will go to Ziphron and end at Hazer-enan. This will be the north side.
10 ‘The east side of your land will be from Hazer-enan to Shepham, 11 then down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. Then it will go down to the hill on the east side of the Sea of Chinnereth. 12 It will go down to the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be the sides all around your land.’”
13 Moses told the people of Israel, “This is the land you will receive by drawing names, which the Lord has said should be given to the nine and a half-family groups. 14 For the sons of Reuben have received their land by their fathers’ houses. The sons of Gad have received theirs by their fathers’ houses. And the half-family group of Manasseh has received their land. 15 The two and a half-family groups have received their land on the other side of the Jordan from Jericho, toward the east.”
16 The Lord said to Moses, 17 “Eleazar the religious leader and Joshua the son of Nun are the men who will divide the land to be given to you. 18 And take one leader of every family group to divide the land among you. 19 These are the names of the men. Take Caleb the son of Jephunneh of the family group of Judah. 20 Take Samuel the son of Ammihud of the family group of the sons of Simeon. 21 Take Elidad the son of Chislon of the family group of Benjamin. 22 Take Bukki the son of Jogli as the leader of the family group of the sons of Dan. 23 Of the sons of Joseph, take Hanniel the son of Ephod as the leader of the family group of the sons of Manasseh. 24 Take Kemuel the son of Shiphtan as the leader of the family group of the sons of Ephraim. 25 Take Elizaphan the son of Parnach as the leader of the family group of the sons of Zebulun. 26 Take Paltiel the son of Azzan as the leader of the family group of the sons of Issachar. 27 Take Ahihud the son of Shelomi as the leader of the family group of the sons of Asher. 28 And take Pedahel the son of Ammihud as the leader of the family group of the sons of Naphtali.” 29 These are the men whom the Lord told to divide the land among the people of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Cities for the Levites
35 The Lord said to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan near Jericho, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to give the Levites cities to live in from the land they receive. And give the Levites fields around the cities. 3 The cities will be theirs to live in. Their fields will be for their cattle and flocks and for all their animals. 4 The fields you give the Levites should be around the cities, from the city walls out 500 long steps. 5 And you should number 1,000 long steps from the city on the east side, on the south side, on the west side, and on the north side, with the city in the center. These fields around the cities will belong to them for their animals. 6 The cities you give the Levites will be the six cities where people can go to be safe. They will be where a man may run to if he has killed another person. And give them forty-two other cities, added to these. 7 Give forty-eight cities in all to the Levites, together with their fields. 8 Take more cities from the larger families of Israel to give to the Levites. And take less cities from the smaller families. Each should give some of its cities to the Levites by how much land is received.”
The Cities to Be a Safe Place
9 Then the Lord said to Moses, 10 “Say to the people of Israel, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 choose which cities are to be the ones where you can run to be safe. The man who has killed a person without meaning to may run there. 12 The cities will be a safe place for you from the one who wants to punish you. So the one who has killed a person may not die until the people decide if he is guilty or not. 13 The cities you give will be your six cities where you can go to be safe. 14 Give three cities on the east side of the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan. They will be the cities where you can go to be safe. 15 These six cities will be safe places for the people of Israel and for the stranger and for the one who visits them. Anyone who kills a person without meaning to may run there.
16 ‘But if he killed him with an iron object, then he is guilty. For sure the killer will be put to death. 17 If he knocked him down with a stone so that he died, he is guilty. For sure the killer will be put to death. 18 Or if he hit him with a piece of wood in his hand so that he died, he is guilty. For sure the killer will be put to death. 19 The man who wants to punish him for the killing will put the killer to death. He will put him to death when he meets him. 20 If the killer has pushed him because he hated him, or has thrown something at him after waiting for him, and because of this he died, 21 or if he hit him down with his hand because he hated him and killed him, for sure the one who killed him must be put to death. He is guilty. The man who wants to punish him for the killing will put him to death when he meets him.
22 ‘But if he pushed him without planning to and without hating him, or threw something at him without having waited for him, 23 or he threw a stone without seeing him, killing him without hating him or meaning to hurt him, 24 then the people will decide by these Laws between the killer and the one who wants to punish him. 25 The people will save the killer from the man who wants to punish him. And they will return him to his city where he had gone to be safe. He will live in it until the death of the head religious leader who was set apart with the holy oil. 26 But if the man who killed another person at sometime goes outside his city where he went to be safe, 27 then the man who wants to punish him will not be guilty of blood if he finds him outside the safe city and kills him. 28 Because the man should have stayed in his city to be safe until the death of the head religious leader. But after the head religious leader dies, the man who killed another person may return to his own land.
29 ‘These things will be a Law to you and to all your children-to-come in all your homes. 30 If anyone kills a person, the killer must be put to death by what is told by those who saw the killing. But no person may be put to death because of what one person says. 31 You must not take pay to save the life of a killer who is guilty of death. But he must be put to death. 32 You must not take pay for him who has run to his city to be safe, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the religious leader. 33 You must not make the land where you live unclean. The land is not holy when people are killed. And only the blood of him who is guilty can pay to make the land free from the blood that has fallen on it. 34 Do not make the land where you live unclean, in the place where I live. For I the Lord am living among the people of Israel.’”
Married Women and What They Would Get from Their Families
36 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the family group of the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near. They spoke in front of Moses and the leaders, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, “The Lord told my lord to give the land to the people of Israel by drawing names. And my lord was told by the Lord to give the land of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 But if they marry one of the sons of the other family groups of Israel, then their land would be taken away from what was given to our fathers and would be added to the land of the family group they marry into. So it would be taken from the land that had been given to us. 4 When the Year of Jubilee of the people of Israel comes, their land will be added to the land of the family group into which they marry. So their land will be taken from the land of the family group of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses told the people of Israel what the Lord said. He said, “The family group of the sons of Joseph are right in what they say. 6 This is what the Lord has said about the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best. Only they must marry within the family group of their father.’ 7 This way no land of the people of Israel will go from one family group to another. The people of Israel will each hold to the land of the family group of his fathers. 8 Every daughter who comes to own the land of any family group of Israel, must be the wife of one of her father’s family group. So every one of the people of Israel may own the land of his fathers. 9 No land will go from one family group to another. For the families of Israel will each hold to his own land.” 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did just as the Lord had told Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. And their land stayed with their father’s family group.
13 These are the Laws which the Lord told the people of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Numbers 34-36
New International Version
Numbers 34-36
New International Version
Boundaries of Canaan
34 The Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter Canaan,(A) the land that will be allotted to you as an inheritance(B) is to have these boundaries:(C)
3 “‘Your southern side will include some of the Desert of Zin(D) along the border of Edom. Your southern boundary will start in the east from the southern end of the Dead Sea,(E) 4 cross south of Scorpion Pass,(F) continue on to Zin and go south of Kadesh Barnea.(G) Then it will go to Hazar Addar and over to Azmon,(H) 5 where it will turn, join the Wadi of Egypt(I) and end at the Mediterranean Sea.
6 “‘Your western boundary will be the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.(J) This will be your boundary on the west.(K)
7 “‘For your northern boundary,(L) run a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor(M) 8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath.(N) 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,(O) run a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham. 11 The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah(P) on the east side of Ain(Q) and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.[a](R) 12 Then the boundary will go down along the Jordan and end at the Dead Sea.
“‘This will be your land, with its boundaries on every side.’”
13 Moses commanded the Israelites: “Assign this land by lot(S) as an inheritance.(T) 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.(U) 15 These two and a half tribes have received their inheritance east of the Jordan across from Jericho, 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(V) son of Nun. 18 And appoint one leader from each tribe to help(W) assign the land.(X) 19 These are their names:(Y)
Caleb(Z) son of Jephunneh,
from the tribe of Judah;(AA)
20 Shemuel son of Ammihud,
from the tribe of Simeon;(AB)
21 Elidad son of Kislon,
from the tribe of Benjamin;(AC)
22 Bukki son of Jogli,
the leader from the tribe of Dan;
23 Hanniel son of Ephod,
the leader from the tribe of Manasseh(AD) son of Joseph;
24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan,
the leader from the tribe of Ephraim(AE) son of Joseph;
25 Elizaphan son of Parnak,
the leader from the tribe of Zebulun;(AF)
26 Paltiel son of Azzan,
the leader from the tribe of Issachar;
27 Ahihud son of Shelomi,
the leader from the tribe of Asher;(AG)
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.(AH)
Towns for the Levites
35 On the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho,(AI) the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Command the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in(AJ) from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. And give them pasturelands(AK) around the towns. 3 Then they will have towns to live in and pasturelands for the cattle they own and all their other animals.(AL)
4 “The pasturelands around the towns that you give the Levites will extend a thousand cubits[b] from the town wall. 5 Outside the town, measure two thousand cubits[c](AM) on the east side, two thousand on the south side, two thousand on the west and two thousand on the north, with the town in the center. They will have this area as pastureland for the towns.(AN)
Cities of Refuge(AO)
6 “Six of the towns you give the Levites will be cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone may flee.(AP) In addition, give them forty-two other towns. 7 In all you must give the Levites forty-eight towns, together with their pasturelands. 8 The 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.”(AQ)
9 Then the Lord said to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you cross the Jordan into Canaan,(AR) 11 select some towns to be your cities of refuge, to which a person who has killed someone(AS) accidentally(AT) may flee. 12 They will be places of refuge from the avenger,(AU) so that anyone accused of murder(AV) may not die before they stand trial before the assembly.(AW) 13 These six towns you give will be your cities of refuge.(AX) 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 and for foreigners residing among them, so that anyone who has killed another accidentally can flee there.
16 “‘If anyone strikes someone a fatal blow with an iron object, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death.(AY) 17 Or if anyone is holding a stone and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. 18 Or if anyone is holding a wooden object and strikes someone a fatal blow with it, that person is a murderer; the murderer is to be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood(AZ) shall put the murderer to death; when the avenger comes upon the murderer, the avenger shall put the murderer to death.(BA) 20 If anyone with malice aforethought shoves another or throws something at them intentionally(BB) so that they die 21 or if out of enmity one person hits another with their fist so that the other dies, that person is to be put to death;(BC) that person is a murderer. The avenger of blood(BD) shall put the murderer to death when they meet.
22 “‘But if without enmity someone suddenly pushes another or throws something at them unintentionally(BE) 23 or, without seeing them, drops on them a stone heavy enough to kill them, and they die, then since that other person was not an enemy and no harm was intended, 24 the assembly(BF) must judge between the accused 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 the accused back to the city of refuge to which they fled. The accused must stay there until the death of the high priest,(BG) who was anointed(BH) with the holy oil.(BI)
26 “‘But if the accused ever goes outside the limits of the city of refuge to which they fled 27 and the avenger of blood finds them outside the city, the avenger of blood may kill the accused without being guilty of murder. 28 The accused must stay in the city of refuge until the death of the high priest; only after the death of the high priest may they return to their own property.
29 “‘This is to have the force of law(BJ) for you throughout the generations to come,(BK) wherever you live.(BL)
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.(BM)
31 “‘Do not accept a ransom(BN) for the life of a murderer, who deserves to die. They are to be put to death.
32 “‘Do not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a city of refuge and so allow them to go back and live on their own land before the death of the high priest.
33 “‘Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land,(BO) 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(BP) where you live and where I dwell,(BQ) for I, the Lord, dwell among the Israelites.’”
Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters(BR)
36 The family heads of the clan of Gilead(BS) son of Makir,(BT) the son of Manasseh, who were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph,(BU) came and spoke before Moses and the leaders,(BV) 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,(BW) he ordered you to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad(BX) 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. 4 When the Year of Jubilee(BY) 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 ancestors.”
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 their father’s tribal clan. 7 No inheritance(BZ) in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. 8 Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan,(CA) so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. 9 No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, 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, Milkah and Noah(CB)—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 tribe and clan.(CC)
13 These are the commands and regulations the Lord gave through Moses(CD) to the Israelites on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.(CE)
Footnotes
- Numbers 34:11 Hebrew Kinnereth
- Numbers 35:4 That is, about 1,500 feet or about 450 meters
- Numbers 35:5 That is, about 3,000 feet or about 900 meters
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