Numbers 33 Contemporary English Version

Israel's Journey from Egypt to Moab

33 As Israel traveled from Egypt under the command of Moses and Aaron, ²Moses kept a list of the places they camped, just as the Lord had instructed. Here is the record of their journey:

^3-4Israel left the Egyptian city of Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month.^[a] This was the day after the Lord had punished Egypt's gods by killing the first-born sons in every Egyptian family. So while the Egyptians were burying the bodies, they watched the Israelites proudly^[b] leave their country.

⁵After the Israelites left Rameses, they camped at Succoth, ⁶and from there, they moved their camp to Etham on the edge of the desert. ⁷Then they turned back toward Pi-Hahiroth, east of Baal-Zephon, and camped near Migdol. ⁸They left Pi-Hahiroth,^[c] crossed the Red Sea,^[d] then walked three days into the Etham Desert and camped at Marah. ⁹Next, they camped at Elim, where there were 12 springs of water and 70 palm trees. ¹⁰They left Elim and camped near the Red Sea,^[e] ¹¹then turned east and camped along the western edge of the Sinai Desert.^[f] ^12-14From there they went to Dophkah, Alush, and Rephidim, where they had no water.^[g] ¹⁵They left Rephidim and finally reached the Sinai Desert.

^16-36As Israel traveled from the Sinai Desert to Kadesh in the Zin Desert, they camped at Kibroth-Hattaavah, Hazeroth, Rithmah, Rimmon-Perez, Libnah, Rissah, Kehelathah, Mount Shepher, Haradah, Makheloth, Tahath, Terah, Mithkah, Hashmonah, Moseroth, Bene-Jaakan, Hor-Haggidgad, Jotbathah, Abronah, Ezion-Geber, and finally Kadesh. ³⁷When they left Kadesh, they came to Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.

³⁸^(A) That's where the Lord commanded Aaron the priest to go to the top of the mountain. Aaron died there on the first day of the fifth month,^[h] 40 years after the Israelites left Egypt. ³⁹He was 123 years old at the time.

⁴⁰^(B) It was then that the Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the Southern Desert of Canaan, heard that Israel was headed that way.

^41-47The Israelites left Mount Hor and headed toward Moab. Along the way, they camped at Zalmonah, Punon, Oboth, Iye-Abarim in the territory of Moab, Dibon-Gad, Almon-Diblathaim, at a place near Mount Nebo in the Abarim Mountains, ⁴⁸and finally in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho. ⁴⁹Their camp stretched from Beth-Jeshimoth to Acacia.

The Lord's Command To Conquer Canaan

⁵⁰While Israel was camped in the lowlands of Moab across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Lord told Moses ⁵¹to give the people of Israel this message:

When you cross the Jordan River and enter Canaan, ⁵²you must force out the people living there. Destroy their idols and tear down their altars. ⁵³Then settle in the land—I have given it to you as your own.

⁵⁴^(C) I will show you^[i] how to divide the land among the tribes, according to the number of clans in each one, so that the larger tribes will have more land than the smaller ones.

⁵⁵If you don't force out all the people there, they will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your back. They will always be trouble for you, ⁵⁶and I will treat you as severely as I planned on treating them.

Footnotes

33.3,4 first month: See the note at 9.3.
33.3,4 proudly: Or “bravely.”
33.8 Pi-Hahiroth: Two ancient translations and the Samaritan Hebrew Text; the Standard Hebrew Text “a place near Hahiroth.”
33.8 Red Sea: Hebrew hayyam, “the Sea,” understood as yam suph, “Sea of Reeds” (see also the note at Exodus 13.18).
33.10 Red Sea: Hebrew yam suph, here referring to the Gulf of Suez, since the term is extended to include the northwestern arm of the Red Sea (see also the note at Exodus 13.18).
33.11 the western edge of the Sinai Desert: Hebrew “the Sin Desert.”
33.12-14 Rephidim … no water: See Exodus 17.1-7.
33.38 fifth month: Ab, the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar, from about mid-July to mid-August.
33.54 I will show you: See the note at 26.55,56.