Instructions for the Conquest of Canaan

50 Now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho, saying, 51 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: (A)‘When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 (B)then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their engraved stones, destroy all their molded images, and demolish all their [a]high places; 53 you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it, for I have given you the land to (C)possess. 54 And (D)you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families; to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance; there everyone’s inheritance shall be whatever falls to him by lot. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be (E)irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell. 56 Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them.’ ”

The Appointed Boundaries of Canaan

34 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into (F)the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance—the land of Canaan to its boundaries. (G)Your southern border shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the border of Edom; then your southern border shall extend eastward to the end of (H)the Salt Sea; your border shall turn from the southern side of (I)the Ascent of Akrabbim, continue to Zin, and be on the south of (J)Kadesh Barnea; then it shall go on to (K)Hazar Addar, and continue to Azmon; the border shall turn from Azmon (L)to the Brook of Egypt, and it shall end at the Sea.

‘As for the (M)western border, you shall have the Great Sea for a border; this shall be your western border.

‘And this shall be your northern border: From the Great Sea you shall mark out your border line to (N)Mount Hor; from Mount Hor you shall mark out your border (O)to the entrance of Hamath; then the direction of the border shall be toward (P)Zedad; the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and it shall end at (Q)Hazar Enan. This shall be your northern border.

10 ‘You shall mark out your eastern border from Hazar Enan to Shepham; 11 the border shall go down from Shepham (R)to Riblah on the east side of Ain; the border shall go down and reach to the eastern [b]side of the Sea (S)of Chinnereth; 12 the border shall go down along the Jordan, and it shall end at (T)the Salt Sea. This shall be your land with its surrounding boundaries.’ ”

13 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying: (U)“This is the land which you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe. 14 (V)For the tribe of the children of Reuben according to the house of their fathers, and the tribe of the children of Gad according to the house of their fathers, have received their inheritance; and the half-tribe of Manasseh has received its inheritance. 15 The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, across from Jericho eastward, toward the sunrise.”

Footnotes

  1. Numbers 33:52 Places for pagan worship
  2. Numbers 34:11 Lit. shoulder

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