אֶ֫רֶץ

“Take a census of the men twenty years of age or older, as the LORD has commanded Moses.” And these were the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt:

And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.

The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but they died in the land of Canaan.

“The land is to be divided among the tribes as an inheritance, according to the number of names.

Indeed, the land must be divided by lot; they shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites.

Now the Reubenites and Gadites, who had very large herds and flocks, surveyed the lands of Jazer and Gilead, and they saw that the region was suitable for livestock.

…which the LORD conquered before the congregation of Israel, are suitable for livestock—and your servants have livestock.”

“If we have found favor in your sight,” they said, “let this land be given to your servants as a possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

Why are you discouraging the Israelites from crossing into the land that the LORD has given them?

This is what your fathers did when I sent them from Kadesh-barnea to inspect the land.

For when your fathers went up to the Valley of Eshcol and saw the land, they discouraged the Israelites from entering the land that the LORD had given them.

But we will arm ourselves and be ready to go ahead of the Israelites until we have brought them into their place. Meanwhile, our little ones will remain in the fortified cities for protection from the inhabitants of the land.

…then when the land is subdued before the LORD, you may return and be free of obligation to the LORD and to Israel. And this land will belong to you as a possession before the LORD.

And Moses said to them, “If the Gadites and Reubenites cross the Jordan with you, with every man armed for battle before the LORD, and the land is subdued before you, then you are to give them the land of Gilead as a possession.

But if they do not arm themselves and go across with you, then they must accept their possession among you in the land of Canaan.”

We will cross over into the land of Canaan armed before the LORD, that we may have our inheritance on this side of the Jordan.”

So Moses gave to the Gadites, to the Reubenites, and to the half-tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan—the land including its cities and the territory surrounding them.

These are the journeys of the Israelites when they came out of the land of Egypt by their divisions under the leadership of Moses and Aaron.

They set out from Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the outskirts of the land of Edom.

At the LORD’s command, Aaron the priest climbed Mount Hor and died there on the first day of the fifth month, in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt.

Now the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Negev in the land of Canaan, heard that the Israelites were coming.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

…you must drive out before you all the inhabitants of the land, destroy all their carved images and cast idols, and demolish all their high places.

You are to take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess.

And you are to divide the land by lot according to your clans. Give a larger inheritance to a larger clan and a smaller inheritance to a smaller one. Whatever falls to each one by lot will be his. You will receive an inheritance according to the tribes of your fathers.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides; they will harass you in the land where you settle.

“Command the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land of Canaan, it will be allotted to you as an inheritance with these boundaries:

Then the border will go down along the Jordan and end at the Salt Sea. This will be your land, defined by its borders on all sides.”

So Moses commanded the Israelites, “Apportion this land by lot as an inheritance. The LORD has commanded that it be given to the nine and a half tribes.

“These are the names of the men who are to assign the land as an inheritance for you: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.

Appoint one leader from each tribe to distribute the land.

These are the ones whom the LORD commanded to apportion the inheritance to the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

“Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

Select three cities across the Jordan and three in the land of Canaan as cities of refuge.

…because the manslayer must remain in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. Only after the death of the high priest may he return to the land he owns.

Nor should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to a city of refuge and allow him to return and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.