Instruction for Apportioning Canaan

1Then 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. 3Your 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. 4Then 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. 5The 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. 8You shall draw a line from Mount Hor to the Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; 9and 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, 11and 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. 12And 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.’ ”

13So 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. 14For 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. 15The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrising.”

16Then 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. 18You shall take one leader of every tribe to apportion the land for inheritance. 19These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 20Of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud. 21Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon. 22Of the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli. 23Of the sons of Joseph: of the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod. 24Of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan. 25Of the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach. 26Of the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan. 27Of the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi. 28Of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” 29These are those whom the Lord commanded to apportion the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

1Now 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. 3The 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. 5You 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

6The 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. 7All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities, together with their pasture lands. 8As 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.”

9Then 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, 11then you shall select for yourselves cities to be your cities of refuge, that the manslayer who has killed any person unintentionally may flee there. 12The 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. 13The cities which you are to give shall be your six cities of refuge. 14You shall give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they are to be cities of refuge. 15These 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. 17If 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. 18Or 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. 19The blood avenger himself shall put the murderer to death; he shall put him to death when he meets him. 20If he pushed him of hatred, or threw something at him lying in wait and as a result he died, 21or 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, 23or 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, 24then the congregation shall judge between the slayer and the blood avenger according to these ordinances. 25The 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. 26But if the manslayer at any time goes beyond the border of his city of refuge to which he may flee, 27and 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 28because 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. 31Moreover, you shall not take ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. 32You 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. 33So 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. 34You 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.’ ”

Inheritance by Marriage

1And 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, 2and 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. 3But 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. 4When 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.”

5Then 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. 6This 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.’ 7Thus 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. 8Every 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. 9Thus 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.”

10Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad married their uncles’ sons. 12They 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.

13These 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.