Study Desk

And Moses said to them, "If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

Beth-nimrah, and Beth-haran as fortified cities, and they built folds for their flocks.

who were burying all their firstborn, whom the LORD had struck down among them; for the LORD had executed judgment against their gods.

They set out from Alush and camped at Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink.

You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

For the tribes of the Reubenites and Gadites, along with the half-tribe of Manasseh, have already received their inheritance.

"These are the names of the men who are to assign the land as an inheritance for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

"Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance they will possess, cities for the Levites to live in and pasturelands around the cities.

The cities will be for them to live in, and the pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other livestock.

You are also to measure two thousand cubits outside the city on the east, two thousand cubits on the south, two thousand cubits on the west, and two thousand cubits on the north, with the city in the center. These areas will serve as larger pasturelands for the cities.

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

This will be a statutory ordinance for you for the generations to come, wherever you live.

You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who deserves to die; he must surely be put to death.

Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.

Do not defile the land where you live and where I dwell. For I, the LORD, dwell among the Israelites."

And when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to the tribe into which they marry and taken away from the tribe of our fathers."

At that time I said to you, "I cannot carry the burden for you alone.

Choose for yourselves wise, understanding, and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will appoint them as your leaders."

So I took the leaders of your tribes, wise and respected men, and appointed them as leaders over you-as commanders of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and as officers for your tribes.