Aaron the priest ascended Mount Hor at the command of the Lord, and he died there in the fortieth year after the Israelites had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month.

Now Aaron was 123 years old when he died in Mount Hor.

The king of Arad, the Canaanite king who lived in the south of the land of Canaan, heard about the approach of the Israelites.

They traveled from Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah.

They traveled from Zalmonah and camped in Punon.

They traveled from Punon and camped in Oboth.

They traveled from Oboth and camped in Iye-abarim, on the border of Moab.

They traveled from Iim and camped in Dibon-gad.

They traveled from Dibon-gad and camped in Almon-diblathaim.

They traveled from Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim before Nebo.

They traveled from the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

They camped by the Jordan, from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the plains of Moab.

The Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho. He said:

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan,

You must dispossess the inhabitants of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess it.

You must divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families. To a larger group you must give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group you must give a smaller inheritance. Everyone's inheritance must be in the place where his lot falls. You must inherit according to your ancestral tribes.

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land before you, then those whom you allow to remain will be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your side, and will cause you trouble in the land where you will be living.

"Give these instructions to the Israelites, and tell them: 'When you enter Canaan, the land that has been assigned to you as an inheritance, the land of Canaan with its borders,

The border will run down from Shepham to Riblah, on the east side of Ain, and the border will descend and reach the eastern side of the Sea of Chinnereth.

The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Jordan, east of Jericho, toward the sunrise."

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

You must take one leader from every tribe to assist in allocating the land as an inheritance.

These are the ones whom the Lord commanded to divide up the inheritance among the Israelites in the land of Canaan.

Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the Moabite plains by the Jordan near Jericho. He said:

"Instruct the Israelites to give the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns.

Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals.

"You must measure from outside the wall of the town on the east 1,000 yards, and on the south side 1,000 yards, and on the west side 1,000 yards, and on the north side 1,000 yards, with the town in the middle. This territory must belong to them as grazing land for the towns.

The towns you will give must be from the possession of the Israelites. From the larger tribes you must give more; and from the smaller tribes fewer. Each must contribute some of its own towns to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance allocated to each.

"Speak to the Israelites and tell them, 'When you cross over the Jordan River into the land of Canaan,

And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community.

"You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge.

"But if he hits someone with an iron tool so that he dies, he is a murderer. The murderer must surely be put to death.

The avenger of blood himself must kill the murderer; when he meets him, he must kill him.

or with enmity he strikes him with his hand and he dies, the one who struck him must surely be put to death, for he is a murderer. The avenger of blood must kill the murderer when he meets him.

because the slayer should have stayed in his town of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer may return to the land of his possessions.

So these things must be a statutory ordinance for you throughout your generations, in all the places where you live.

"Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony of witnesses; but one witness cannot testify against any person to cause him to be put to death.

And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.

Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites."

They said, "The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.

Now if they should be married to one of the men from another Israelite tribe, their inheritance would be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. As a result, it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance.

And when the Jubilee of the Israelites is to take place, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe."

In this way the inheritance of the Israelites will not be transferred from tribe to tribe. But every one of the Israelites must retain the ancestral heritage.

And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any of the tribes of the Israelites must become the wife of a man from any family in her father's tribe, so that every Israelite may retain the inheritance of his fathers.

No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe. But every one of the tribes of the Israelites must retain its inheritance."

They were married into the families of the Manassehites, the descendants of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's family.

These are the commandments and the decisions that the Lord commanded the Israelites through the authority of Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River opposite Jericho.