Study Desk

They came near to him and said, "We will build sheep pens here for the flock of our livestock and cities for our little children;

We will not return to our houses until the Israelites each obtain their inheritance for themselves.

For we will not take possession with them from across the Jordan and beyond because our inheritance has come to us from across the Jordan to the east."

So Moses said to them, "If you do this thing, if you arm yourselves before Yahweh for the war,

Build for yourselves cities for your little children and sheep pens for your flocks; what has gone out from your mouth you will do."

but your servants, everyone who is armed for battle, will cross over before Yahweh to the war, just as my lord says."

Moses said to them, "If the descendants of Gad and the descendants of Reuben, everyone who is armed for the war, cross over the Jordan before Yahweh, and the land is subdued before you, you will give them the land of Gilead as property.

and Beth Nimrah and Beth Haran, the cities of Mibzar, and the sheep pens for flocks.

You will distribute the land by lot according to your clans; to the larger group you will give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller group you will give less inheritance. However the lot falls for him, there the lot will be. You will distribute it according to the tribes of your ancestors.

So Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, "This is the land that you will obtain as an inheritance for yourself by lot, which Yahweh commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes.

For the tribe of the children of the Reubenites, the children of the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh took their inheritance according to the house of their families.

"These are the names of the men who divide up the land for your inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

You will take one leader from every tribe to divide up the land for inheritance.

The cities will be theirs to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their domestic animals, for their possessions, and their animals.

You will measure outside the city the eastern edge two thousand cubits, for the southern edge two thousand cubits, for the western edge two thousand cubits, and for the northern edge two thousand cubits, with the city in the middle; this will be for them the pasturelands of the cities.

you will select for yourselves cities for your cities of refuge, that a killer who has killed a person unintentionally can flee there.

The cities will be to you a refuge from a redeemer, so that the killer will not die until he stands before the community for judgment.

These things will be as a decree of justice for you for your generations in all your dwellings.

Also, you will not take a ransom payment for the life of a killer who is guilty of death; indeed, he must surely be put to death.

You will not take a ransom payment for the one that flees to the city of his refuge, so that he may return to live in the land before the death of the priest.