Numbers 33
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 33
Stages of Israel’s Journey.[a] 1 These are the journeys of the people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the command of the Lord, Moses recorded the stages of their journeys. These are their journeys by stages: 3 the people of Israel left Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover. They went out triumphantly in the sight of the Egyptians. 4 This was while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn whom the Lord had slain. The Lord also executed judgment upon their gods.
5 The people of Israel set out from Rameses, and they camped in Succoth. 6 They set out from Succoth and they camped in Etham, which is on the fringes of the desert. 7 They left Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, to the east of Baal-zephon. They camped near Migdol. 8 They left Pi-hahiroth and crossed over through the midst of the sea into the desert. They traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, camping in Marah. 9 They left Marah and came to Elim. There are twelve springs and seventy palm trees there, so they camped there. 10 They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin. 12 They left the Desert of Sin and camped in Dophkah. 13 They left Dophkah and camped in Alush. 14 They left Alush and camped in Rephidim. (There was no water there for the people to drink.) 15 They left Rephidim and camped in the Sinai Desert. 16 They left the Sinai Desert and camped in Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 They left Kibroth-hattaavah and camped in Hazeroth. 18 They left Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. 19 They left Rithmah and camped in Rimmon-perez. 20 They left Rimmon-perez and camped in Libnah. 21 They left Libnah and camped in Rissah. 22 They left Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. 23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They left Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. 25 They left Haradah and camped in Makheloth. 26 They left Makheloth and camped in Tahath. 27 They left Tahath and camped in Terah. 28 They left Terah and camped in Mithkah. 29 They left Mithkah and camped in Hashmonah. 30 They left Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. 31 They left Moseroth and camped in Bene-jaakan. 32 They left Bene-jaakan and camped in Hor-haggidgad. 33 They left Hor-haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. 34 They left Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. 35 They left Abronah and camped in Ezion-geber.[b] 36 They left Ezion-geber and camped in Kadesh, which is in the Desert of Zin. 37 They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.
38 Then Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor following the Lord’s command. He died there in the fortieth year after the people of Israel came out of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 The Canaanite king of Arad who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan heard that the people of Israel were coming.
41 They left Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 They left Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 They left Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 They left Punon and camped in Iye-abarim on the border of Moab. 45 They left Iye-abarim, and camped in Dibon-gad. 46 They left Dibon-gad and camped in 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 in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. 49 There on the plain of Moab they camped near the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.
50 Possession and Division of Canaan. On the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan 52 drive out the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all of their carved images[c] and all of their cast idols. Demolish all of their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 Distribute the land by lot among your families. Give a larger inheritance to those that are larger and a smaller inheritance to those that are smaller. Wherever the lot falls, give it to them. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, then those whom you leave will become splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell.’ ”
Footnotes
- Numbers 33:1 At the time when the Hebrews were about to settle down in arable lands, it was found useful to make a record of the wilderness journey. Such is the purpose of this schematized list of forty stages, which are a reminder of the forty previous years of nomadic life.
- Numbers 33:35 Ezion-geber is the modern Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba.
- Numbers 33:52 Destroy all of their carved images: just as Israel had conquered the Midianites and eradicated their pagan symbols, the same fate now fell on the land of Canaan.
Numbers 33
The Voice
In this next chapter, Moses outlines the Israelites’ journey to this point, and in doing so reminds them of the events that have brought them to this place. In that walk down memory lane, it can be difficult to place the locations within a linear reference of time. The entire book moves through a few months in the first 14 chapters, and suddenly it is 38 years later. After that, time seems to stand still as the people are prepared to go into the promised land. It is hard to determine when things happened in those 38 years.
33 1-2 Based on the meticulous records of departure points Moses kept, at the direction of the Eternal One, he reported that the Israelites’ wilderness journey from Egypt led by Moses and Aaron followed this itinerary: 3 They started out from Rameses in Egypt on Month 1, day 15 (the day after observing the Passover), and were exalted before the Egyptians’ eyes 4 (who were burying their firstborn dead, struck down by God, and whose gods the Eternal was punishing). 5 The Israelites’ first camp after Rameses was Succoth. 6 The next, Etham, was right where the wilderness begins. 7 From Etham, they went toward Pi-hahiroth, facing Baal-zephon, and camped in front of Migdol. 8 From Pi-hahiroth, they crossed the sea and entered the wilderness proper. For three days, they crossed that Etham Wilderness, stopping over at Marah 9 and then Elim. That was a good spot to camp. Elim was an oasis with 12 springs and 70 palm trees. 10 After Elim, their next stop was at the coast of the Red Sea;[a] 11 then they camped in the Sin Wilderness. 12 After leaving Sin, they traveled to Dophkah, 13 then Alush, 14 and then Rephidim. At that point, the people were getting desperate for water and ornery on account of their discomfort and thirst. There, God told Moses to produce water for them from out of a rock.[b] 15 After that, the Sinai Wilderness. 16-17 Their stopping places after Sinai were first Kibroth-hattaavah, then Hazeroth. 18-23 They camped as they moved from place to place through Rithmah, Rimmon-perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, and Mount Shepher. 24-27 From there they moved through Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, and Terah. 28-33 Continuing their journey from place to place, they went through Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-jaakan, Hor-haggidgad, and Jotbathah. 34-37 They camped in Abronah, Ezion-geber, Kadesh (in the Zin Wilderness), and then Mount Hor (on the Edomite border). 38 It was at Mount Hor that Aaron the priest went up the mountain and died as the Eternal said he would. That was in the 40th year after the Israelites had left Egypt, and it happened on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Aaron was 123 years old when he died on Mount Hor. 40 That was also when the Canaanite king of Arad, from the Negev region, caught wind of the Israelites’ arrival and attacked them.
One battle between the Amorites (a people of Canaan) and the Israelites seems to be mentioned in four different passages (14:45; 21:1; 33:40; Deuteronomy 1:44). In this chapter, Moses is looking back at what has brought them to this place, ready to enter the land. He rehearses the death of Aaron (20:27–29) and the battle that followed. Initially, the Amorites overcome the Israelites at Hormah (14:45; 33:40; Deuteronomy 1:44) and take prisoners (21:1). Then with the Lord’s help, the Israelites rebound to defeat the king of Arad and rescue the people who have been captured (21:2–4). For some reason, this battle is mentioned in different contexts three times and with two different outcomes.
41-47 After Mount Hor, their next camp site was Zalmonah, then Punon, Oboth, Iye-abarim (on Moab’s border), Dibon-gad, Almon-diblathaim, and Nebo’s foothills of Abarim. 48 From Abarim, they set up camp on the flatlands of Moab, on the western banks of the Jordan River, east of Jericho. 49 Their camp stretched from Beth-jeshimoth on the riverbank to Abel-shittim in the flatlands.
50 In that Moabite flatland, next to the Jordan, east of Jericho, the Eternal One told Moses to speak to the people.
Moses is instructed to remind the people of their mission to take the land and utterly decimate the peoples who are presently living there.
Eternal One: 51 Tell this new generation of Israelites that as soon as they cross the Jordan into Canaan, 52 they must make its inhabitants flee. They must obliterate any carved or molded images of other gods and goddesses and the high places where they’re worshiped. 53 Tell them they must take that land. I promised it to them and have determined they should live in it as their own. 54 Divide it up among the people by clan, and make decisions about who gets what partly based on the size of the groups. But once you’ve made that rough distinction, draw lots for the specific territories. Whatever you draw, that’s how the land shall be allotted. Each of the tribes from Jacob’s extended families shall have their own land. 55 If they do not fully conquer and take the land from its native inhabitants, those remaining people will be a constant irritation, causing trouble and annoyance like thorns in their eyes and barbs in their sides 56 because if they don’t fully dispossess the present occupants, I will do to the Israelites what I would have done to the Canaanites.
Footnotes
- 33:10 Literally, Sea of Reeds
- 33:14 Exodus 17:1
Numbers 33
King James Version
33 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, which went forth out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron.
2 And Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of the Lord: and these are their journeys according to their goings out.
3 And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.
4 For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the Lord had smitten among them: upon their gods also the Lord executed judgments.
5 And the children of Israel removed from Rameses, and pitched in Succoth.
6 And they departed from Succoth, and pitched in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness.
7 And they removed from Etham, and turned again unto Pihahiroth, which is before Baalzephon: and they pitched before Migdol.
8 And they departed from before Pihahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness, and went three days'journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah.
9 And they removed from Marah, and came unto Elim: and in Elim were twelve fountains of water, and threescore and ten palm trees; and they pitched there.
10 And they removed from Elim, and encamped by the Red sea.
11 And they removed from the Red sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin.
12 And they took their journey out of the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah.
13 And they departed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush.
14 And they removed from Alush, and encamped at Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink.
15 And they departed from Rephidim, and pitched in the wilderness of Sinai.
16 And they removed from the desert of Sinai, and pitched at Kibrothhattaavah.
17 And they departed from Kibrothhattaavah, and encamped at Hazeroth.
18 And they departed from Hazeroth, and pitched in Rithmah.
19 And they departed from Rithmah, and pitched at Rimmonparez.
20 And they departed from Rimmonparez, and pitched in Libnah.
21 And they removed from Libnah, and pitched at Rissah.
22 And they journeyed from Rissah, and pitched in Kehelathah.
23 And they went from Kehelathah, and pitched in mount Shapher.
24 And they removed from mount Shapher, and encamped in Haradah.
25 And they removed from Haradah, and pitched in Makheloth.
26 And they removed from Makheloth, and encamped at Tahath.
27 And they departed from Tahath, and pitched at Tarah.
28 And they removed from Tarah, and pitched in Mithcah.
29 And they went from Mithcah, and pitched in Hashmonah.
30 And they departed from Hashmonah, and encamped at Moseroth.
31 And they departed from Moseroth, and pitched in Benejaakan.
32 And they removed from Benejaakan, and encamped at Horhagidgad.
33 And they went from Horhagidgad, and pitched in Jotbathah.
34 And they removed from Jotbathah, and encamped at Ebronah.
35 And they departed from Ebronah, and encamped at Eziongaber.
36 And they removed from Eziongaber, and pitched in the wilderness of Zin, which is Kadesh.
37 And they removed from Kadesh, and pitched in mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom.
38 And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment of the Lord, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fifth month.
39 And Aaron was an hundred and twenty and three years old when he died in mount Hor.
40 And king Arad the Canaanite, which dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel.
41 And they departed from mount Hor, and pitched in Zalmonah.
42 And they departed from Zalmonah, and pitched in Punon.
43 And they departed from Punon, and pitched in Oboth.
44 And they departed from Oboth, and pitched in Ijeabarim, in the border of Moab.
45 And they departed from Iim, and pitched in Dibongad.
46 And they removed from Dibongad, and encamped in Almondiblathaim.
47 And they removed from Almondiblathaim, and pitched in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo.
48 And they departed from the mountains of Abarim, and pitched in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho.
49 And they pitched by Jordan, from Bethjesimoth even unto Abelshittim in the plains of Moab.
50 And the Lord spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,
51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;
52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:
53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.
54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.
55 But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
56 Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.