Numbers 32-36 Do to Others or God Will Do to You
Psalm 26:1-7 Praise Pours from a Pure Heart
Ps 26:1 “Judge me, Yahweh, for I have walked in my integrity. I have trusted also in Yahweh without wavering. 2 Examine me, Yahweh, and prove me. Try my heart and my mind. 3 For your hesed/loyal love is before my eyes. I have walked in your truth. 4 I have not sat with deceitful men, neither will I go in with hypocrites. 5 I hate the assembly of evildoers, and will not sit with the wicked. 6 I will wash my hands in innocence, so I will go about your altar, Yahweh; 7 that I may make the voice of thanksgiving to be heard, and tell of all your wondrous works.”Observations: 26:1-3 David appeals to God for help on the basis of steadfast trust and integrity. Which he offers to prove.
26:4-5 Our integrity is manifested by the company we keep and don't keep. (cf Ps 1)
26:6-7 Because of his innocence David is confident that God will answer his prayer so he can offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and tell how God answered and delivered him (see rest of Psalm).
Questions: Can you proclaim your integrity and innocence? Have you ever asked God to try and refine you?
Application: Note the things David did and didn't do, and seek to build them into your life.
Prayer: Judge of the earth, who does what's right, show me where I am thinking and valuing incorrectly, so I can do what's right. Amen.
Proverbs 7:10-12 Flee Temptation
Pr 7:12 “(7 I saw among the simple ones...a young man void of understanding) 10 Behold, there a woman met him with the attire of a prostitute, and with crafty intent. 11 She is boisterous and rebellious. Her feet don’t stay in her house. 12 Now she is in the streets, now in the squares, and lurking at every corner.
Observations: 7:7 The “simple/naive” (Hebrew=open minded, empty headed), is void of understanding because he hasn't developed Biblical prejudices of what he will and won't do.
7:10 Since he hasn't planned to avoid trouble, he runs into it: an adulterous woman looking for prey.
7:11-12 The woman is the personification of temptation: illegitimate, designed to attract (“dressed to kill” is more like it if you read the end of the scenario), crafty (the word is used of a guard or watchmen intent on preventing danger, and she's on the prowl to cause it), unrestrained by any higher principle than passion, mobile, aggressive, available, and lurking/lying in wait to ambush the unsuspecting simpleton.
Application: Flee temptation, it's an unfair fight for the unprepared.
2Tim 2:22 “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
Prayer: Lord, unmask the temptations around me so I can see them for what they are and flee. Thanks. Amen.
Numbers 32-36
Numbers 32 Short-Cut to Blessing
32:1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, was a place for cattle; 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses...4 the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle. 5 They said, "If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don`t bring us over the Jordan.
6 Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, "Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here? 7 Why discourage the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them? 8 Thus did Your fathers, when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to see the land. 11 Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed Me: 12 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Yahweh. 13 Yahweh`s anger was kindled against Israel, and He made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh, was consumed.
14 Behold, you are risen up in your fathers` place, an increase of sinful men, to augment the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel. 15 For if you turn away from after Him, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people.
16 They said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. 20 Moses said to them, If you will do this thing...22 and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless towards Yahweh, and towards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before Yahweh. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out. 33 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children 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, according to the cities of it with [their] borders, even the cities of the land round about.
Observations: What initially looked like self-centered disunity which might have discouraged the rest of the Israelites from obeying God, turns out to be acceptable because of their willingness to secure the inheritance of each Israelite before they claim theirs. The tribes of Gad, Reuben and Manasseh did fulfill their obligations (Josh 4:12-13, 22) but the lack of natural defenses of their territories left them open to future invasions. There is debate about whether their choice (born partially out of temporal advantage, like Lot) was wisest. God said that the land would be distributed by lots, which He would oversee. They chose for themselves, leaving God out of the picture.
Pr 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from Yahweh.
Application: We're usually better off if we let God chose what's best for us. Not only did He create our desires with a plan to fulfill them, He's omniscient.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You that You can make Your will obvious to me, and that You always give what's best when it's best. Amen.
Numbers 33 Do to Others or God Will Do to You
33:1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh...3 They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the children of Israel went out defiantly in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them: on their gods also Yahweh executed judgments. 5 The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses...8 They journeyed from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness...9 They journeyed from Marah, and came to Elim: and in Elim were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm-trees; and they encamped there...14 encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink. 15 They journeyed from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai... 38 Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt 39 Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. 40 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 50 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured [stones], and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places: 53 and you shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for to you have I given the land to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot 55 But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those who you let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land in which you dwell. 56 It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so will I do to you.
Observations: 33:1 Travelogue without slides. Just a few events are mentioned.
33:2 Evidence for Mosaic authorship.
33:15 Surprisingly, there is no mention of the law being given at Mt Sinai.
33:55-56 These are key verses for understanding the Israelite future. Building off the experience with the Midianites, if Israel failed to destroy the pagan idolaters (whom God was judging – Gen 15) then the pagans would vex, and God would destroy the Israelites.
Application: What about destroy do you not understand?
Prayer: Lord, help me drive out of my life anything or anyone that displeases You. Amen.
Numbers 34 Borders and Division
34:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, and tell them, When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders of it), 3 then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward...6 For the western border, you shall have the great sea...16 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one prince of 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...29 These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Observations: See maps for comparison of the borders told to Abraham, and those told to Ezekiel. Eleazar, Joshua (religious and civil leadership) and representatives from each tribe divided up the land.
Numbers 35 Cities for Levites and Refuge
Observations: Levites got cities scattered throughout Israel so they would be accessible to the people to teach the law. Special cities of refuge were established for unintentional manslaughter, complete with instructions for trial by jury and sentence terms.
35:33 God's concern for justice is a requirement for blessing the “holy” land because it reflects His character.
Deut 3:24 He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are just, a God of truth and without injustice; righteous and upright is He.
Application: Justice is achieved and maintained by teaching and following God's revelation. No Exceptions.
Prayer: God of Justice and Truth, thank You for revealing what is just and right and true, so we can do it and be blessed by You. Amen.
Numbers 36 Preservation of Land Rights
36:1 The heads...the sons of Joseph, spoke before Moses and...2 said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance...of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If they be married to any of the sons of the [other] tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe where they shall belong: so will it be taken away from our inheritance. 4 When the jubilee...6 This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. 7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe...2 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Observations: The inheritance was the means of production. God mandated that it always stay in the hands of the people. If they sold it, it was only a lease, and would revert back to the original tribe in the year of Jubilee. This mandated individual ownership of land militates against socialism (means of production owned by the state), communism, and exploitative serfdom “capitalism.”
Digging Deeper:
God in a nutshell: God is really serious about His people being holy; if we don't take steps to purify ourselves and obediently remove potentially bad influences, He will take steps to punish us. He cares about justice for people, because it is a reflection of His character, and the basis of blessing.
Us in a nutshell: We tend to look for immediate comfort and advantage rather than trust God to provide what's best, when it's best, in effect, usurping His rule in our lives. We tend to think everything's OK if we're not as bad as someone else. When we fail to proactively obey God, we are planning to fail, then we will be vexed by our laxity, and judged for our disobedience; or we could decide to do what God says, and get blessed.
Where to Go for More:
Truthbase.net
Numbers complete text
Chapter 32
32 1 Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that behold, the place was a place for cattle; 2 the children of Gad and the children of Reuben came and spoke to Moses, and to Eleazar the priest, and to the princes of the congregation, saying, 3 Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nimrah, and Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Sebam, and Nebo, and Beon, 4 the land which Yahweh struck before the congregation of Israel, is a land for cattle; and your servants have cattle. 5 They said, If we have found favor in your sight, let this land be given to your servants for a possession; don`t bring us over the Jordan. 6 Moses said to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, Shall your brothers go to the war, and shall you sit here? 7 Why discourage you the heart of the children of Israel from going over into the land which Yahweh has given them? 8 Thus did your fathers, when I sent them from Kadeshbarnea 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 children of Israel, that they should not go into the land which Yahweh had given them. 10 Yahweh`s anger was kindled in that day, and he swore, saying, 11 Surely none of the men who came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me: 12 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, and Joshua the son of Nun; because they have wholly followed Yahweh. 13 Yahweh`s anger was kindled against Israel, and he made them wander back and forth in the wilderness forty years, until all the generation, who had done evil in the sight of Yahweh, was consumed. 14 Behold, you are risen up in your fathers` place, an increase of sinful men, to augment yet the fierce anger of Yahweh toward Israel. 15 For if you turn away from after him, he will yet again leave them in the wilderness; and you will destroy all this people. 16 They came near to him, and said, We will build sheepfolds here for our cattle, and cities for our little ones: 17 but we ourselves will be ready armed to go before the children of Israel, until we have brought them to their place: and our little ones shall dwell in the fortified cities because of the inhabitants of the land. 18 We will not return to our houses, until the children of Israel have inherited every man his inheritance. 19 For we will not inherit with them on the other side of the Jordan, and forward; because our inheritance is fallen to us on this side of the Jordan eastward. 20 Moses said to them, If you will do this thing, if you will arm yourselves to go before Yahweh to the war, 21 and every armed man of you will pass over the Jordan before Yahweh, until he has driven out his enemies from before him, 22 and the land is subdued before Yahweh; then afterward you shall return, and be guiltless towards Yahweh, and towards Israel; and this land shall be to you for a possession before Yahweh. 23 But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against Yahweh; and be sure your sin will find you out. 24 Build you cities for your little ones, and folds for your sheep; and do that which has proceeded out of your mouth. 25 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben spoke to Moses, saying, Your servants will do as my lord commands. 26 Our little ones, our wives, our flocks, and all our cattle, shall be there in the cities of Gilead; 27 but your servants will pass over, every man who is armed for war, before Yahweh to battle, as my lord says. 28 So Moses gave charge concerning them to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers` [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel. 29 Moses said to them, If the children of Gad and the children of Reuben will pass with you over the Jordan, every man who is armed to battle, before Yahweh, and the land shall be subdued before you; then you shall give them the land of Gilead for a possession: 30 but if they will not pass over with you armed, they shall have possessions among you in the land of Canaan. 31 The children of Gad and the children of Reuben answered, saying, As Yahweh has said to your servants, so will we do. 32 We will pass over armed before Yahweh into the land of Canaan, and the possession of our inheritance [shall remain] with us beyond the Jordan. 33 Moses gave to them, even to the children of Gad, and to the children 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, according to the cities of it with [their] borders, even the cities of the land round about. 34 The children of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer, 35 and Atrothshophan, and Jazer, and Jogbehah, 36 and Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran: fortified cities, and folds for sheep. 37 The children of Reuben built Heshbon, and Elealeh, and Kiriathaim, 38 and Nebo, and Baal-meon, (their names being changed,) and Sibmah: and they gave other names to the cities which they built. 39 The children of Machir the son of Manasseh went to Gilead, and took it, and dispossessed the Amorites who were therein. 40 Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh; and he lived therein. 41 Jair the son of Manasseh went and took the towns of it, and called them Havvoth-jair. 42 Nobah went and took Kenath, and the villages of it, and called it Nobah, after his own name.
Chapter 33
33:1 These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went forth out of the land of Egypt by their hosts under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2 Moses wrote their goings out according to their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh: and these are their journeys according to their goings out. 3 They journeyed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4 while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them: on their gods also Yahweh executed judgments. 5 The children of Israel journeyed from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. 6 They journeyed from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 7 They journeyed from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal-zephon: and they encamped before Migdol. 8 They journeyed from before Hahiroth, and passed through the midst of the sea into the wilderness: and they went three days` journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. 9 They journeyed from Marah, and came to Elim: and in Elim were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm-trees; and they encamped there. 10 They journeyed from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. 11 They journeyed from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12 They journeyed from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. 13 They journeyed from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. 14 They journeyed from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where was no water for the people to drink. 15 They journeyed from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16 They journeyed from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 They journeyed from Kibroth-hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. 18 They journeyed from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. 19 They journeyed from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon-perez. 20 They journeyed from Rimmon-perez, and encamped in Libnah. 21 They journeyed from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. 22 They journeyed from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. 23 They journeyed from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. 24 They journeyed from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. 25 They journeyed from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. 26 They journeyed from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. 27 They journeyed from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. 28 They journeyed from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. 29 They journeyed from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. 30 They journeyed from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. 31 They journeyed from Moseroth, and encamped in Benejaakan. 32 They journeyed from Bene-jaakan, and encamped in Horhaggidgad. 33 They journeyed from Hor-haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. 34 They journeyed from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah. 35 They journeyed from Abronah, and encamped in Eziongeber. 36 They journeyed from Ezion-geber, and encamped in the wilderness of Zin (the same is Kadesh). 37 They journeyed from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. 38 Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh, and died there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. 39 Aaron was one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. 40 The Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41 They journeyed from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. 42 They journeyed from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. 43 They journeyed from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. 44 They journeyed from Oboth, and encamped in Iye-abarim, in the border of Moab. 45 They journeyed from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon-gad. 46 They journeyed from Dibon- gad, and encamped in Almon-diblathaim. 47 They journeyed from Almondiblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48 They journeyed from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 49 They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth even to Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab. 50 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51 Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured [stones], and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places: 53 and you shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for to you have I given the land to possess it. 54 You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the more you shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer you shall give the less inheritance: wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his; according to the tribes of your fathers shall you inherit. 55 But if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those who you let remain of them be as pricks in your eyes, and as thorns in your sides, and they shall vex you in the land in which you dwell. 56 It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so will I do to you.
Chapter 34
34:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel, and tell them, When you come into the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, even the land of Canaan according to the borders of it), 3 then your south quarter shall be from the wilderness of Zin along by the side of Edom, and your south border shall be from the end of the Salt Sea eastward; 4 and your border shall turn about southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, and pass along to Zin; and the goings out of it shall be southward of Kadesh-barnea; and it shall go forth to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon; 5 and the border shall turn about from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and the goings out of it shall be at the sea. 6 For the western border, you shall have the great sea and the border [of it]: this shall be your west border. 7 This shall be your north border: from the great sea you shall mark out for you Mount Hor; 8 from Mount Hor you shall mark out to the entrance of Hamath; and the goings out of the border shall be at Zedad; 9 and the border shall go forth to Ziphron, and the goings out of it shall be at Hazar-enan: this shall be your north border. 10 You shall mark out your east border from Hazarenan to Shepham; 11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain; and the border shall go down, and shall reach to the side of the sea of Chinnereth eastward; 12 and the border shall go down to the Jordan, and the goings out of it shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to the borders of it round about. 13 Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying, This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which Yahweh has commanded to give to the nine tribes, and to the half-tribe; 14 for the tribe of the children of Reuben according to their fathers` houses, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to their fathers` houses, have received, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received, their inheritance: 15 the two tribes and the halftribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise. 16 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 17 These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun. 18 You shall take one prince of 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 children of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud. 21 Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22 Of the tribe of the children of Dan a prince, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23 Of the children of Joseph: of the tribe of the children of Manasseh a prince, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24 Of the tribe of the children of Ephraim a prince, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25 Of the tribe of the children of Zebulun a prince, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26 Of the tribe of the children of Issachar a prince, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27 Of the tribe of the children of Asher a prince, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28 Of the tribe of the children of Naphtali a prince, Pedahel the son of Ammihud. 29 These are they whom Yahweh commanded to divide the inheritance to the children of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Chapter 35
35:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 2 Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and suburbs for the cities round about them shall you give to the Levites. 3 The cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their cattle, and for their substance, and for all their animals. 4 The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits round about. 5 You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities. 6 The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty-two cities. 7 All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities; them [shall you give] with their suburbs. 8 Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites. 9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 10 Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 12 The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die, until he stands before the congregation for judgment. 13 The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge. 14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and three cities shall you give in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge. 15 For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the sojourner among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there. 16 But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 17 If he struck him with a stone in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 18 Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, whereby a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death. 19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meets him, he shall put him to death. 20 If he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died, 21 or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him. 22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait, 23 or with any stone, whereby a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm; 24 then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances; 25 and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil. 26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees, 27 and the avenger of blood find him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood, 28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession. 29 These things shall be for a statute [and] ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die. 31 Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death. 32 You shall take no ransom for him who is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest. 33 So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood, it pollutes the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him who shed it. 34 You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I, Yahweh, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel. Chapter 36 1 The heads of the fathers` [houses] of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers` [houses] of the children of Israel: 2 and they said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If they be married to any of the sons of the [other] tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers. 5 Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right. 6 This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married. 7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 Every daughter, who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to his own inheritance. 10 Even as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad: 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father`s brothers` sons. 12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
Chapter 36
36:1 The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel. 2 They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.” 5 Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right. 6 This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best; only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father. 7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’” 10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses: 11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons. 12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father. 13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
