Study Desk

So Moses gave them—the Gadites, Reubenites, and half the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph—the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land including its cities with the territories surrounding them.

So Moses gave Gilead to the clan of Machir son of Manasseh, and they settled in it.

They departed from Marah and came to Elim. There were 12 springs of water and 70 date palms at Elim, so they camped there.

So Moses commanded the Israelites, "This is the land you are to receive by lot as an inheritance, which the Lord commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes.

"The cities you give the Levites will include six cities of refuge, which you must provide so that the one who kills someone may flee there; in addition to these, give 42 other cities.

designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.

You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly.

These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.

So Moses commanded the Israelites at the word of the Lord , "What the tribe of Joseph's descendants says is right.

Any daughter who possesses an inheritance from an Israelite tribe must marry someone from the clan of her ancestral tribe, so that each of the Israelites will possess the inheritance of his fathers.

The Lord your God has so multiplied you that today you are as numerous as the stars of the sky.

"So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and set them over you as leaders: officials for thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens, and officers for your tribes.

"Then all of you approached me and said, ‘Let's send men ahead of us, so that they may explore the land for us and bring us back a report about the route we should go up and the cities we will come to.'

The plan seemed good to me, so I selected 12 men from among you, one man for each tribe.

You grumbled in your tents and said, ‘The Lord brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hands of the Amorites so they would destroy us, because He hated us.

"So I said to you: Don't be terrified or afraid of them!

So I spoke to you, but you didn't listen. You rebelled against the Lord 's command and defiantly went up into the hill country.

Command the people: You are about to travel through the territory of your brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. They will be afraid of you, so you must be very careful.

You may purchase food from them with silver, so that you may eat, and buy water from them to drink.

"So we bypassed our brothers, the descendants of Esau, who live in Seir. We turned away from the Arabah road and from Elath and Ezion-geber. We traveled along the road to the Wilderness of Moab.