Instruction for Apportioning Canaan

34 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Command the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When you enter (A)the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall fall to you as an inheritance, that is, the land of Canaan according to its borders. (B)Your southern region shall [a]extend from the wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern border shall [b]extend from the end of the Salt Sea (C)eastward. Then your border shall change direction from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim and [c]continue to Zin, and its [d]termination shall be to the south of (D)Kadesh-barnea; and it shall [e]reach Hazaraddar and [f]continue to Azmon. Then the border shall change direction from Azmon to the brook of Egypt, and its termination shall be at (E)the sea.

‘As for the western border, you shall have the Great Sea, that is, its [g]coastline; this shall be your western border.

(F)And this shall be your northern border: you shall draw your boundary from the Great Sea to Mount Hor. You shall draw a boundary from Mount Hor to (G)the [h]Lebo-hamath, and the termination of the border shall be at Zedad; and the border shall proceed to Ziphron, and its termination shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.

10 ‘For your eastern border you shall also draw a boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham, 11 and the border shall go down from Shepham to (H)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 (I)Chinnereth. 12 And 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 on all sides.’”

13 So Moses commanded the sons of Israel, saying, “(J)This is the land that you are to possess by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes. 14 (K)For 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. 15 The two and a half tribes have received their possession across the Jordan opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 34:3 Lit be
  2. Numbers 34:3 Lit be
  3. Numbers 34:4 Lit pass along
  4. Numbers 34:4 Lit exits, and so throughout the ch
  5. Numbers 34:4 Lit go forth to
  6. Numbers 34:4 Lit pass along
  7. Numbers 34:6 Lit border
  8. Numbers 34:8 Or entrance of Hamath

Boundaries of the land of Canaan

34 The Lord said to Moses: Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that will fall to you as an inheritance. The land of Canaan according to its boundaries:

Your southern boundary extends from the Zin desert alongside Edom. Your southern border extends from the edge of the Dead Sea on the east. Your border will turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim and cross toward Zin. Its limit will be south of Kadesh-barnea. It will go out to Hazar-addar and cross toward Azmon. The border will then turn from Azmon to the Egypt ravine. Its limit will be at the Mediterranean Sea.

Your western border will be the Mediterranean Sea. This will be your western border.

This will be your northern border: From the Mediterranean Sea you will mark out your boundary to Mount Hor. From Mount Hor you will mark out your boundary to Lebo-hamath. The limit of the border will be Zedad. The border will go out to Ziphron. Its limit will be Hazar-enan. This will be your northern border.

10 You will mark out your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham. 11 The border will descend from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. The border will go down and meet the eastern slope of the Galilee Sea. 12 The border will descend to the Jordan. Its limit will be the Dead Sea.

This will be your land with its borders all around.

13 Moses commanded the Israelites: This is the land that you will inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine and a half tribes, 14 because the tribe of Reuben by their households and the tribe of Gad by their households, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance. 15 The two and a half tribes have taken their inheritance across the Jordan at Jericho toward the east.

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