The Chronological Bible Reading Plan
February 27
Numbers 34-36
Chapter 34
Instruction for Apportioning Canaan
1 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter the
land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, even
the land of Canaan according to its borders.
3 ‘Your southern sector shall extend from the wilderness of Zin along the
side of Edom, and your southern border shall extend from the end of the Salt
Sea eastward.
4 ‘Then your border shall turn direction from the south to the ascent of
Akrabbim and continue to Zin, and its termination shall be to the south of Kadesh-barnea;
and it shall reach Hazaraddar and continue to Azmon.
5 ‘The border shall turn direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and
its termination shall be at the sea.
6 ‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its
coastline; this shall be your west border.
7 ‘And this shall be your north border: you shall draw your border line
from the Great Sea to Mount Hor.
8 ‘You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination
of the border shall be at Zedad;
9 and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan.
This shall be your north border.
10 ‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a line from Hazar-enan
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 reach to the slope on the east side of the Sea
of Chinnereth.
12 ‘And the border shall go down to the Jordan and its termination shall
be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land according to its borders all around.’ ”
13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the land that
you are to apportion by lot among you as a possession, which the Lord has commanded
to give to the nine and a half tribes.
14 “For the tribe of the sons of Reuben have received theirs according
to their fathers’ households, and the tribe of the sons of Gad according
to their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received
their possession.
15 “The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the
Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising.”
16 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17 “These are the names of the men who shall apportion the land to you
for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.
18 “You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion 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 sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud.
21 “Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
22 “Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 “Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader,
Hanniel the son of Ephod.
24 “Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
25 “Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of
Parnach.
26 “Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
27 “Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
28 “Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.”
29 These are those whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the
sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.
Chapter 35
Cities for the Levites
1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite
Jericho, saying,
2 “Command the sons of Israel that they give to the Levites from the inheritance
of their possession cities to live in; and you shall give to the Levites pasture
lands around the cities.
3 “The cities shall be theirs to live in; and their pasture lands shall
be for their cattle and for their herds and for all their beasts.
4 “The pasture lands of the cities which you shall give to the Levites
shall extend from the wall of the city outward a thousand cubits around.
5 “You shall also measure outside the city on the east side two thousand
cubits, and on the south side two thousand cubits, and on the west side two thousand
cubits, and on the north side two thousand cubits, with the city in the center.
This shall become theirs as pasture lands for the cities.
Cities of Refuge
6 “The cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be the six cities
of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to; and in addition
to them you shall give forty-two cities.
7 “All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight
cities, together with their pasture lands.
8 “As for the cities which you shall give from the possession of the sons
of Israel, you shall take more from the larger and you shall take less from the
smaller; each shall give some of his cities to the Levites in proportion to his
possession which he inherits.”
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
10 “Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross
the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
11 then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge,
that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there.
12 ‘The cities shall be to you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the
manslayer will not die until he stands before the congregation for trial.
13 ‘The cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge.
14 ‘You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the
land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge.
15 ‘These six cities shall be for refuge for the sons of Israel, and for
the alien and for the sojourner among them; that anyone who kills a person unintentionally
may flee there.
16 ‘But if he struck him down with an iron object, so that he died, he
is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death.
17 ‘If he struck him down with a stone in the hand, by which he will die,
and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to
death.
18 ‘Or if he struck him with a wooden object in the hand, by which he might
die, and as a result he died, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be
put to death.
19 ‘The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall
put him to death when he meets him.
20 ‘If he pushed him of hatred, or threw something at him lying in wait
and as a result he died,
21 or if he struck him down with his hand in enmity, and as a result he died,
the one who struck him shall surely be put to death, he is a murderer; the
blood avenger shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
22 ‘But if he pushed him suddenly without enmity, or threw something at
him without lying in wait,
23 or with any deadly object of stone, and without seeing it dropped on him
so that he died, while he was not his enemy nor seeking his injury,
24 then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger
according to these ordinances.
25 ‘The congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the blood
avenger, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge to which
he fled; and he shall live in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed
with the holy oil.
26 ‘But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city
of refuge to which he may flee,
27 and the blood avenger finds him outside the border of his city of refuge,
and the blood avenger kills the manslayer, he will 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
to the land of his possession.
29 ‘These things shall be for a statutory ordinance to you throughout your
generations in all your dwellings.
30 ‘If anyone kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death at the
evidence of witnesses, but no person shall be put to death on the testimony of
one witness.
31 ‘Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who
is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death.
32 ‘You shall not take ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge,
that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.
33 ‘So you shall not pollute the land in which you are; for blood pollutes
the land and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed
on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.
34 ‘You shall not defile the land in which you live, in the midst of which
I dwell; for I the Lord am dwelling in the midst of the sons of Israel.’ ”
Chapter
36
Inheritance by Marriage
1 And the heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the sons 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 leaders, the heads of
the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel,
2 and they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land by lot
to the sons of Israel as an inheritance, and my lord was commanded by the
Lord to
give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
3 “But if they marry one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons
of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of our
fathers
and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; thus
it will be withdrawn from our allotted inheritance.
4 “When the jubilee of the sons of Israel comes, then their inheritance
will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; so their
inheritance will be withdrawn from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 Then Moses commanded the sons of Israel according to the word of the Lord,
saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph are right in their statements.
6 “This is what the Lord has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad,
saying, ‘Let them marry whom they wish; only they must marry within
the family of the tribe of their father.’
7 “Thus no inheritance of the sons of Israel shall be transferred from
tribe to tribe, for the sons of Israel shall each hold to the inheritance
of the tribe of his fathers.
8 “Every daughter who comes into possession of an inheritance of any
tribe of the sons of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe
of her
father, so that the sons of Israel each may possess the inheritance of his
fathers.
9 “Thus no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another
tribe, for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall each hold to his own inheritance.”
10 Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did:
11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married
their uncles’ sons.
12 They married those from the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of
Joseph, and their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family of their
father.
13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which the Lord commanded to
the sons of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan opposite
Jericho.
"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission." (www.Lockman.org)