The Land of Canaan Is Divided

34 Then Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the Israelites^[a] and say to them, ‘When you come into the land of Canaan, this is the land that was allotted to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries. ³ Your southern edge will be from the desert of Zin toward the side of Edom, and your southern border will be from the end of the Salt Sea^[b] to the east; ⁴ your boundary will turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim^[c] and will pass over to Zin, and its limits will be from the south of Kadesh Barnea; it will continue to Hazar Addar and pass over to Azmon. ⁵ The boundary will turn from Azmon to the valley of Egypt, and its limits will be to the sea.

⁶ “‘Your western boundary will be the Great Sea;^[d] this will be your western boundary. ⁷ Your northern border will be from the Great Sea;^[e] you will make a boundary from the Great Sea^[f] to Mount Hor. ⁸ From Mount Hor you will make a boundary to reach Hamath; the limits of the territory will be at Zedad. ⁹ The boundary will go out to Ziphron, and its limits will be at Hazar Enan. This will be your boundary to the north.

¹⁰ “‘You will mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar Enan to Shepham; ¹¹ the boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah from the east side of Ain, and the boundary will go down and border on the eastern side of the Sea of Kinnereth. ¹² The boundary will go down to the Jordan, and its limits will be at the Salt Sea.^[g] This will be your land according to its boundaries all around.’”

¹³ So Moses commanded the Israelites,^[h] 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. ¹⁴ For the tribe of the children of the Reubenites,^[i] the children of the Gadites,^[j] and the half-tribe of Manasseh took their inheritance according to the house of their families.^{[k] 15} The two and a half tribes have taken their inheritance from beyond the Jordan across Jericho, east toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who divide up the land for your inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun. ¹⁸ You will take one leader from every tribe to divide up the land for inheritance. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men: of the tribe of Judah, Caleb son of Jephunneh; ²⁰ of the tribe of the descendants of Simeon, Samuel son of Ammihud; ²¹ of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad son of Chislon; ²² of the tribe of the descendants^[l] of Dan, the leader Bukki son of Jogli; ²³ of the descendants^[m] of Joseph, the tribe of the descendants^[n] of Manasseh, the leader Hanniel son of Ephod. ²⁴ Of the tribe of the descendants^[o] of Ephraim, the leader Kemuel son of Shiphtan; ²⁵ of the tribe of the descendants^[p] of Zebulum, the leader Elizaphan son of Parnach; ²⁶ of the tribe of the descendants^[q] of Issachar, the leader Paltiel son of Azzan; ²⁷ of the tribe of the descendants^[r] of Asher, the leader Ahihud son of Shelomi; ²⁸ of the tribe of the descendants^[s] of Naphtali, the leader Pedahel son of Ammihud.” ²⁹ These are those whom Yahweh commanded to allot to the Israelites^[t] the land of Canaan.

Cities for the Levites

35 Yahweh spoke to Moses on the desert plains of Moab beyond the Jordan across Jericho, saying, ² “Command the Israelites^[u] that they give to the Levites from the inheritance of their property cities to live in; and you will give to the Levites pastureland all around the cities.^{[v] 3} The cities will be theirs to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their domestic animals, for their possessions, and their animals.^[w]

⁴ “The pasturelands of the cities that you will give to the Levites will extend from the wall of the city to a distance of a thousand cubits all around. ⁵ 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.

⁶ “All the cities that you will give the Levites will be six cities of refuge, to which the killer can flee; in addition to them you will give forty-two cities. ⁷ All the cities that you will give to the Levites will be forty-eight cities, them with their pasturelands. ⁸ And the cities that you will give from the property of the Israelites,^[x] you will take more from the larger group and less from the smaller group; each of them will give according to the portion of their inheritance according to the portion that he inherits.”

Cities of Refuge

⁹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁰ “Speak to the Israelites^[y] and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, ¹¹ you will select for yourselves cities for your cities of refuge, that a killer who has killed a person unintentionally can flee there. ¹² 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. ¹³ The cities that you are to give will be your six cities of refuge. ¹⁴ You will give three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan; they will be cities of refuge. ¹⁵ To the Israelites,^[z] to the alien, and to the temporary resident in their midst there will be these six cities as a refuge to which anyone who unintentionally kills a person may flee.

¹⁶ “‘But if he hit him with an object of iron, so that he dies, the killer must surely be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he hit him with a stone in the hand, by which he will die, and he does die, he is a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he hit him with a wooden object, by which he will die, and he does die, he is a killer; the killer must surely be put to death. ¹⁹ The blood avenger himself will put the killer to death; he must put him to death when meeting him. ²⁰ If he shoves him in hatred, or he throws something at him with intention, and he dies, ²¹ or if he hits him in hostility with his hand, and he dies, the one that struck him will put to death the killer when meeting him.

²² “‘Or if in an instant he shoved him, not in hostility, or threw something at him without intention, ²³ or with any stone, without seeing it dropped on him so that he dies, while he was not seeking his injury, ²⁴ then the community will judge between the striker and between the blood avenger according to these ordinances. ²⁵ The community will deliver the killer from the hand of the blood avenger, and the community will restore him to the city of his refuge to which he fled; and he will live there in it until the death of the high priest who was anointed with holy oil. ²⁶ But if the killer surely goes out of the territory of the city of his refuge to which he fled, ²⁷ and the blood avenger finds him outside the territory of the city of his refuge, and the blood avenger kills the killer, he will not be guilty of blood^{[aa] 28} because he must live in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the killer will return to the land of his property. ²⁹ These things will be as a decree of justice for you for your generations in all your dwellings.

³⁰ “‘If anyone kills a person, the killer will be put to death according to the testimony^[ab] of witnesses, but someone cannot die on testimony of one person. ³¹ 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. ³² 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. ³³ So you will not pollute the land in which you are; because blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is poured out on it except with the blood of the one who poured it out. ³⁴ You will not defile the land on which you are living because I am living in the midst of it; I am Yahweh; I am living in the midst of the Israelites.’”^[ac]

Inheritance Through Marriage

36 The leaders^[ad] of the families^[ae] of the clans of descendants^[af] of Gilead the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the descendants^[ag] of Joseph came near and spoke before^[ah] Moses and before^[ai] the leaders^[aj] of the families^[ak] of the Israelites.^{[al] 2} And they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot as an inheritance to the Israelites,^[am] and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ But if they become wives to one of the sons from another tribe of the Israelites,^[an] their inheritance will disappear from the inheritance of our ancestors,^[ao] and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; the lot of our inheritance would disappear. ⁴ When the Jubilee of the Israelites^[ap] comes,^[aq] it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will disappear from the tribe of our father.”

⁵ Then Moses commanded the Israelites^[ar] by the command of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the descendants^[as] of Joseph is right regarding what they are speaking. ⁶ This is the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them marry^[at] whomever they like;^[au] only they must marry^[av] from within the clan of the tribe of their father. ⁷ Thus an inheritance of the Israelites^[aw] will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the Israelites.^{[ax] 8} Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the Israelites^[ay] will marry^[az] one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the Israelites^[ba] will possess the inheritance of his ancestors.^{[bb] 9} Therefore an inheritance will not go around from one tribe to another tribe because the tribes of the Israelites^[bc] will each hold to their own inheritance.’”

¹⁰ Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: ¹¹ Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married^[bd] the sons of their uncles. ¹² They married^[be] those from the sons of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained^[bf] among the tribe of the clan of their ancestors.^[bg]

¹³ These were the commands and the stipulations that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Moses^[bh] to the Israelites^[bi] on the desert-plateaus of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho.

Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Second Time

³⁰ And from there they went out and^[a] passed through Galilee. And he did not want anyone to know, ³¹ for he was teaching his disciples and was telling them, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he^[b] is killed, after three days he will rise.” ³² But they did not understand the statement, and they were afraid to ask him.

The Question About Who Is Greatest

³³ And they came to Capernaum. And after he^[c] was in the house, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the way?” ³⁴ But they were silent, because they had argued with one another on the way about who was greatest. ³⁵ And he sat down and^[d] called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he will be last of all and servant of all.” ³⁶ And he took a young child and^[e] had him stand among them.^[f] And taking him in his arms, he said to them, ³⁷ “Whoever welcomes one of the young children such as these in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but the one who sent me.”

Whoever Is Not Against Us Is for Us

³⁸ John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone expelling demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” ³⁹ But Jesus said, “Do not prevent him, because there is no one who does a miracle in my name and will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For whoever is not against us is for us. ⁴¹ For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in my name because you are Christ’s, truly I say to you that he will never lose his reward.

Temptations to Sin

⁴² “And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it is better for him if instead a large millstone^[g] is placed around his neck and he is thrown into the sea. ⁴³ And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go into hell—into the unquenchable fire!^{[h] 45} And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life lame than, having two feet, to be thrown into hell!^{[i] 47} And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, ⁴⁸ ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished.’^{[j] 49} For everyone will be salted with fire. ⁵⁰ Salt is good, but if the salt becomes deprived of its salt content, by what can you make it salty? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”