The Daily Audio Bible

⁴⁰ The Kena‘ani king of ‘Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Kena‘an, had heard that the people of Isra’el were coming; ⁴¹ so they moved on from Mount Hor and camped at Tzalmonah.

⁴² They moved on from Tzalmonah and camped at Punon. ⁴³ They moved on from Punon and camped at Ovot. ⁴⁴ They moved on from Ovot and camped ‘Iyei-Ha‘Avarim, at the border of Mo’av. ⁴⁵ They moved on from ‘Iyim and camped at Divon-Gad. ⁴⁶ They moved on from Divon-Gad and camped at ‘Almon-Divlatayim. ⁴⁷ They moved on from Almon-Divlatayim and camped in the ‘Avarim Range, in front of N’vo. ⁴⁸ They moved on from the ‘Avarim Range and camped in the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden, across from Yericho. ⁴⁹ Their camp by the Yarden extended from Beit-HaYeshimot all the way to Avel-HaSheetim in the plains of Mo’av.

(RY: v; LY: iii) ⁵⁰ Adonai spoke to Moshe in the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden, across from Yericho. He said ⁵¹ to tell the people of Isra’el, “When you cross the Yarden into the land of Kena‘an, ⁵² you are to expel all the people living in the land from in front of you. Destroy all their stone figures, destroy all their metal statues and demolish all their high places. ⁵³ Drive out the inhabitants of the land, and live in it, for I have given the land to you to possess. ⁵⁴ You will inherit the land by lot according to your families. You are to give more land to the larger families and less to the smaller ones. Wherever the lot falls to any particular person, that will be his property. You will inherit according to the tribes of your ancestors. ⁵⁵ But if you don’t drive out the inhabitants of the land from in front of you, then those you allow to remain will become like thorns in your eyes and stings in your sides — they will harass you in the land where you are living. ⁵⁶ And in this event, I will do to you what I intended to do to them.”

34 Adonai told Moshe ² to give this order to the people of Isra’el: “When you enter the land of Kena‘an, it will become your land to pass on as an inheritance, the land of Kena‘an as defined by these borders.

³ “Your southern portion will extend from the Tzin Desert close to the border of Edom. The eastern terminus of your southern border is at the end of the Dead Sea. ⁴ From there your border turns, goes south of the ‘Akrabbim Ascent and passes on to Tzin. From there it goes south of Kadesh-Barnea, on to Hatzar-Adar, and on to ‘Atzmon. ⁵ Then the border turns and goes from ‘Atzmon to the Vadi of Egypt and along it to the Sea.

⁶ “Your western border will be the Great Sea.

⁷ “Your northern border will be as follows: from the Great Sea mark a line to Mount Hor, ⁸ and from Mount Hor mark a line to the entrance of Hamat. The border goes out to Tz’dad. ⁹ Then the border goes to Zifron and finally to Hatzar-‘Einan; this is your northern border.

¹⁰ “For the eastern border mark your line from Hatzar-‘Enan to Sh’fam. ¹¹ Then the border goes down from Sh’fam to Rivlah, on the east side of ‘Ayin, then down until it hits the slope east of Lake Kinneret. ¹² From there it goes down the Yarden River till it flows into the Dead Sea. These will be the borders of your land.”

¹³ Moshe gave this order to the people of Isra’el: “This is the land in which you will receive inheritances by lot, which Adonai has ordered to give to the nine tribes and the half-tribe. ¹⁴ The tribe of the descendants of Re’uven have already received their land for inheritance according to their clans, and so have the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M’nasheh. ¹⁵ These two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Yarden, across from Yericho and eastward, toward the sunrise.”

(RY: vi; LY: iv) ¹⁶ Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who will take possession of the land for you: El‘azar the cohen and Y’hoshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸ Also appoint one leader from each tribe to take possession of the land. ¹⁹ The names of these men are:

²⁹ These are the ones whom Adonai ordered to divide the inheritance among the people of Isra’el in the land of Kena‘an.

35 (LY: v) In the plains of Mo’av by the Yarden, across from Yericho, Adonai said to Moshe, ² “Order the people of Isra’el to give to the L’vi’im cities to live in from the heritage they will possess, and you are also to give the L’vi’im some of the open land surrounding the cities. ³ They are to have the cities to live in, while their open land will be for their livestock, for growing crops and for all their animals. ⁴ The open land around the cities you give to the L’vi’im is to commence at a line drawn around the city wall 1,500 feet outside it and is to extend outward from there. ⁵ Measure 3,000 feet outward from the city wall to the east, south, west and north, with the city in the center. The space between the 1,500-foot line and the 3,000-foot line will be their open land around the cities. ⁶ The cities you give to the L’vi’im are to be the six cities of refuge to which you permit the person who kills someone to flee to; plus an additional forty-two cities. ⁷ Thus you will give the L’vi’im forty-eight cities, with their surrounding open land. ⁸ As to the cities you will give from those the people of Isra’el possess, from the many you will take many, and from the few you will take few — each tribe will contribute from its cities to the L’vi’im in accordance with the size of its inheritance.”

(RY: vii, LY: vi) ⁹ Adonai said to Moshe, ¹⁰ “Tell the people of Isra’el, ‘When you cross the Yarden into the land of Kena‘an, ¹¹ you are to designate for yourselves cities that will be cities of refuge for you, to which anyone who kills someone by mistake can flee. ¹² These cities are to be a refuge for you from the dead person’s next-of-kin, who might otherwise avenge his kinsman’s death by slaying the killer prior to his standing trial before the community. ¹³ In regard to the cities you are to give, there are to be six cities of refuge for you. ¹⁴ You are to give three cities east of the Yarden and three cities in the land of Kena‘an; they will be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ These six cities will serve as refuge for the people of Isra’el, as well as for the foreigner and resident alien with them; so that anyone who kills someone by mistake may flee there.

¹⁶ “‘However, if he hits him with an iron implement and thus causes his death, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁷ Or if he hits him with a stone in his hand big enough to kill someone, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he hits him with a wood utensil in his hand capable of killing someone, and he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer must be put to death. ¹⁹ The next-of-kin avenger is to put the murderer to death himself — upon meeting him, he is to put him to death. ²⁰ Likewise, if he shoves him out of hatred; or intentionally throws something at him, causing his death; ²¹ or out of hostility strikes him with his hand, so that he dies; then the one who struck him must be put to death; he is a murderer; and the next-of-kin avenger is to put the murderer to death upon meeting him.

²² “‘But suppose he shoves him suddenly, but without hostility; or he throws something at him unintentionally; ²³ or, without seeing him, being his enemy or seeking to harm him, he throws a stone big enough to cause death; and the person dies. ²⁴ Then the community is to judge between the one who struck him and the next-of-kin avenger in accordance with these rules; ²⁵ and the community is to save the killer from the next-of-kin avenger. The community is to return him to the city of refuge to which he fled, and he is to live there until the cohen hagadol, who was anointed with the holy oil, dies. ²⁶ But if the killer ever goes beyond the limits of the city of refuge he fled to, ²⁷ and the next-of-kin avenger finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger kills the killer, he will not be guilty of the man’s blood; ²⁸ because he must stay in his city of refuge until the death of the cohen hagadol. But after the death of the cohen hagadol the killer may return to the land he owns. ²⁹ These things shall constitute your standard for judgment through all your generations, wherever you live.

³⁰ “‘If anyone kills someone, the murderer is to be put to death upon the testimony of witnesses; but the testimony of only one witness will not suffice to cause a person to be put to death. ³¹ Also, you are not to accept a ransom in lieu of the life of a murderer condemned to death; rather, he must be put to death. ³² Likewise, you are not to accept for someone who has fled to his city of refuge a ransom that would allow him to return to his land before the death of the cohen. ³³ In this way you will not defile the land in which you are living. For blood defiles the land, and in this land no atonement can be made for the blood shed in it except the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴ No, you are not to defile the land in which you live and in which I live; for I, Adonai, live among the people of Isra’el.’”

¹² Once, when Yeshua was in one of the towns, there came a man completely covered with tzara‘at. On seeing Yeshua, he fell on his face and begged him, “Sir, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³ Yeshua reached out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing! Be cleansed!” Immediately the tzara‘at left him. ¹⁴ Then Yeshua warned him not to tell anyone. “Instead, as a testimony to the people, go straight to the cohen and make an offering for your cleansing, as Moshe commanded.” ¹⁵ But the news about Yeshua kept spreading all the more, so that huge crowds would gather to listen and be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ However, he made a practice of withdrawing to remote places in order to pray.

¹⁷ One day when Yeshua was teaching, there were P’rushim and Torah-teachers present who had come from various villages in the Galil and Y’hudah, also from Yerushalayim; and the power of Adonai was with him to heal the sick. ¹⁸ Some men came carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. They wanted to bring him inside and lay him in front of Yeshua, ¹⁹ but they couldn’t find a way to get him in because of the crowd. So they went up onto the roof and lowered him on his mattress through the tiles into the middle of the gathering, right in front of Yeshua. ²⁰ When Yeshua saw their trust, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven you.” ²¹ The Torah-teachers and the P’rushim began thinking, “Who is this fellow that speaks such blasphemies? Who can forgive sin except God?” ²² But Yeshua, knowing what they were thinking, answered, “Why are you turning over such thoughts in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier to say? ‘Your sins are forgiven you’? or ‘Get up and walk’? ²⁴ But look! I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” He then said to the paralytic, “I say to you: get up, pick up your mattress and go home!” ²⁵ Immediately, in front of everyone, he stood up, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home praising God. ²⁶ Amazement seized them all, and they made a b’rakhah to God; they were awestruck, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”

²⁷ Later Yeshua went out and saw a tax-collector named Levi sitting in his tax-collection booth; and he said to him, “Follow me!” ²⁸ He got up, left everything and followed him.