Chapter 33
Stages of Israel’s Journey.[a] 1 These are the journeys of the people of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt with their armies under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. 2 At the command of the Lord, Moses recorded the stages of their journeys. These are their journeys by stages: 3 the people of Israel left Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after Passover. They went out triumphantly in the sight of the Egyptians. 4 This was while the Egyptians were burying their firstborn whom the Lord had slain. The Lord also executed judgment upon their gods.
5 The people of Israel set out from Rameses, and they camped in Succoth. 6 They set out from Succoth and they camped in Etham, which is on the fringes of the desert. 7 They left Etham and turned back to Pi-hahiroth, to the east of Baal-zephon. They camped near Migdol. 8 They left Pi-hahiroth and crossed over through the midst of the sea into the desert. They traveled for three days in the Desert of Etham, camping in Marah. 9 They left Marah and came to Elim. There are twelve springs and seventy palm trees there, so they camped there. 10 They left Elim and camped by the Red Sea.
11 They left the Red Sea and camped in the Desert of Sin. 12 They left the Desert of Sin and camped in Dophkah. 13 They left Dophkah and camped in Alush. 14 They left Alush and camped in Rephidim. (There was no water there for the people to drink.) 15 They left Rephidim and camped in the Sinai Desert. 16 They left the Sinai Desert and camped in Kibroth-hattaavah. 17 They left Kibroth-hattaavah and camped in Hazeroth. 18 They left Hazeroth and camped in Rithmah. 19 They left Rithmah and camped in Rimmon-perez. 20 They left Rimmon-perez and camped in Libnah. 21 They left Libnah and camped in Rissah. 22 They left Rissah and camped in Kehelathah. 23 They left Kehelathah and camped at Mount Shepher. 24 They left Mount Shepher and camped in Haradah. 25 They left Haradah and camped in Makheloth. 26 They left Makheloth and camped in Tahath. 27 They left Tahath and camped in Terah. 28 They left Terah and camped in Mithkah. 29 They left Mithkah and camped in Hashmonah. 30 They left Hashmonah and camped in Moseroth. 31 They left Moseroth and camped in Bene-jaakan. 32 They left Bene-jaakan and camped in Hor-haggidgad. 33 They left Hor-haggidgad and camped in Jotbathah. 34 They left Jotbathah and camped in Abronah. 35 They left Abronah and camped in Ezion-geber.[b] 36 They left Ezion-geber and camped in Kadesh, which is in the Desert of Zin. 37 They left Kadesh and camped at Mount Hor, on the border of Edom.
38 Then Aaron the priest went up Mount Hor following the Lord’s command. He died there in the fortieth year after the people of Israel came out of Egypt, on the first day of the fifth month. 39 Aaron was one hundred and twenty-three years old when he died on Mount Hor.
40 The Canaanite king of Arad who dwelt in the Negeb in the land of Canaan heard that the people of Israel were coming.
41 They left Mount Hor and camped in Zalmonah. 42 They left Zalmonah and camped in Punon. 43 They left Punon and camped in Oboth. 44 They left Punon and camped in Iye-abarim on the border of Moab. 45 They left Iye-abarim, and camped in Dibon-gad. 46 They left Dibon-gad and camped in Almon-diblathaim. 47 They left Almon-diblathaim and camped in the mountains of Abarim near Nebo. 48 They left the mountains of Abarim and camped in the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho. 49 There on the plain of Moab they camped near the Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth to Abel-shittim.
50 Possession and Division of Canaan. On the plain of Moab near the Jordan, across from Jericho, the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan 52 drive out the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all of their carved images[c] and all of their cast idols. Demolish all of their high places. 53 Take possession of the land and live in it, for I have given you the land to possess. 54 Distribute the land by lot among your families. Give a larger inheritance to those that are larger and a smaller inheritance to those that are smaller. Wherever the lot falls, give it to them. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes. 55 But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, then those whom you leave will become splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell.’ ”
Footnotes
- Numbers 33:1 At the time when the Hebrews were about to settle down in arable lands, it was found useful to make a record of the wilderness journey. Such is the purpose of this schematized list of forty stages, which are a reminder of the forty previous years of nomadic life.
- Numbers 33:35 Ezion-geber is the modern Elath on the Gulf of Aqaba.
- Numbers 33:52 Destroy all of their carved images: just as Israel had conquered the Midianites and eradicated their pagan symbols, the same fate now fell on the land of Canaan.