Numbers 33-34
Contemporary English Version
Israel's Journey from Egypt to Moab
33 As Israel traveled from Egypt under the command of Moses and Aaron, 2 Moses kept a list of the places they camped, just as the Lord had instructed. Here is the record of their journey:
3-4 Israel left the Egyptian city of Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month.[a] This was the day after the Lord had punished Egypt's gods by killing the first-born sons in every Egyptian family. So while the Egyptians were burying the bodies, they watched the Israelites proudly[b] leave their country.
5 After the Israelites left Rameses, they camped at Succoth, 6 and from there, they moved their camp to Etham on the edge of the desert. 7 Then they turned back toward Pi-Hahiroth, east of Baal-Zephon, and camped near Migdol. 8 They left Pi-Hahiroth,[c] crossed the Red Sea,[d] then walked three days into the Etham Desert and camped at Marah. 9 Next, they camped at Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. 10 They left Elim and camped near the Red Sea,[e] 11 then turned east and camped along the western edge of the Sinai Desert.[f] 12-14 From there they went to Dophkah, Alush, and Rephidim, where they had no water.[g] 15 They left Rephidim and finally reached the Sinai Desert.
16-36 As Israel traveled from the Sinai Desert to Kadesh in the Zin Desert, they camped at Kibroth-Hattaavah, Hazeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-Perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-Jaakan, Hor-Haggidgad, Jotbathah, Abronah, Ezion-Geber, and finally Kadesh. 37 When they left Kadesh, they came to Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.
38 (A) That's where the Lord commanded Aaron the priest to go to the top of the mountain. Aaron died there on the first day of the fifth month,[h] 40 years after the Israelites left Egypt. 39 He was 123 years old at the time.
40 (B) It was then that the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Southern Desert of Canaan, heard that Israel was headed that way.
41-47 The Israelites left Mount Hor and headed toward Moab. Along the way, they camped at Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iye-Abarim in the territory of Moab, Dibon-Gad, Almon-Diblathaim, at a place near Mount Nebo in the Abarim Mountains, 48 and finally in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. 49 Their camp stretched from Beth-Jeshimoth to Acacia.
The Lord's Command To Conquer Canaan
50 While Israel was camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Lord told Moses 51 to give the people of Israel this message:
When you cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan, 52 you must force out the people living there. Destroy their idols and tear down their altars. 53 Then settle in the land—I have given it to you as your own.
54 (C) I will show you[i] how to divide the land among the tribes, according to the number of clans in each one, so that the larger tribes will have more land than the smaller ones.
55 If you don't force out all the people there, they will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your back. They will always be trouble for you, 56 and I will treat you as severely as I planned on treating them.
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.[j] 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,[k] 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 (D)(E) 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:
Caleb son of Jephunneh
from Judah,
Shemuel son of Ammihud
from Simeon,
Elidad son of Chislon
from Benjamin,
Bukki son of Jogli
from Dan,
Hanniel son of Ephod
from Manasseh,
Kemuel son of Shiphtan
from Ephraim,
Elizaphan son of Parnach
from Zebulun,
Paltiel son of Azzan
from Issachar,
Ahihud son of Shelomi
from Asher,
and Pedahel son of Ammihud
from Naphtali.”
29 These are the men the Lord commanded to help Eleazar and Joshua divide the land for the Israelites.
Footnotes
- 33.3,4 first month: See the note at 9.3.
- 33.3,4 proudly: Or “bravely.”
- 33.8 Pi-Hahiroth: Two ancient translations and the Samaritan Hebrew Text; the Standard Hebrew Text “a place near Hahiroth.”
- 33.8 Red Sea: Hebrew hayyam, “the Sea,” understood as yam suph, “Sea of Reeds” (see also the note at Exodus 13.18).
- 33.10 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Suez, since the term is extended to include the northwestern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.18).
- 33.11 the western edge of the Sinai Desert: Hebrew “the Sin Desert.”
- 33.12-14 Rephidim … no water: See Exodus 17.1-7.
- 33.38 fifth month: Ab, the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-July to mid-August.
- 33.54 I will show you: See the note at 26.55,56.
- 34.7 Mount Hor: Not the same as in 33.37.
- 34.11 Lake Galilee: The Hebrew text has “Lake Chinnereth,” an earlier name for Lake Galilee.
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