The Wilderness Years

The tribe of the descendants of Re'uven have already received their land for inheritance according to their clans, and so have the descendants of Gad and the half-tribe of M'nasheh.

These two-and-a-half tribes have received their inheritance on this side of the Yarden, across from Yericho and eastward, toward the sunrise."

ADONAI said to Moshe,

"These are the names of the men who will take possession of the land for you: El'azar the cohen and Y'hoshua the son of Nun.

Also appoint one leader from each tribe to take possession of the land.

The names of these men are: from the tribe of Y'hudah, Kalev the son of Y'funeh;

from the tribe of the descendants of Shim'on, Sh'mu'el the son of 'Ammihud;

from the tribe of Binyamin, Elidad the son of Kislon;

from the tribe of the descendants of Dan, a leader, Buki the son of Yogli;

from the descendants of Yosef: from the tribe of the descendants of M'nasheh, a leader, Hani'el the son of Efod;

from the tribe of the descendants of Efrayim, a leader, K'mu'el the son of Shiftan;

from the tribe of the descendants of Z'vulun, a leader, Elitzafan the son of Parnakh;

from the tribe of the descendants of Yissakhar, a leader, Palti'el the son of 'Azan;

from the tribe of the descendants of Asher, a leader, Achihud the son of Shlomi;

from the tribe of the descendants of Naftali, a leader, P'dah'el the son of 'Ammihud."

These are the ones whom ADONAI ordered to divide the inheritance among the people of Isra'el in the land of Kena'an.

In the plains of Mo'av by the Yarden, across from Yericho, ADONAI said to Moshe,

"Order the people of Isra'el to give to the L'vi'im cities to live in from the heritage they will possess, and you are also to give the L'vi'im some of the open land surrounding the cities.

They are to have the cities to live in, while their open land will be for their livestock, for growing crops and for all their animals.

The open land around the cities you give to the L'vi'im is to commence at a line drawn around the city wall 1,500 feet outside it and is to extend outward from there.

Measure 3,000 feet outward from the city wall to the east, south, west and north, with the city in the center. The space between the 1,500-foot line and the 3,000-foot line will be their open land around the cities.

The cities you give to the L'vi'im are to be the six cities of refuge to which you permit the person who kills someone to flee to; plus an additional forty-two cities.

Thus you will give the L'vi'im forty-eight cities, with their surrounding open land.

As to the cities you will give from those the people of Isra'el possess, from the many you will take many, and from the few you will take few - each tribe will contribute from its cities to the L'vi'im in accordance with the size of its inheritance."

ADONAI said to Moshe,