Instruction for Apportioning Canaan

¹Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Command the Israelites, ‘When you enter the land of Canaan, this is the land that shall be yours as an inheritance, the land of Canaan according to its boundaries, ³ your southern region shall be from the Wilderness of Zin along the side of Edom, and your southern boundary from the end of the Salt (Dead) Sea eastward. ⁴ Your boundary shall turn from the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, and continue on to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar and pass on to Azmon. ⁵ Then the boundary shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt (Wadi el-arish), and its limit shall be at the [Mediterranean] Sea.

⁶ ‘As the western boundary you shall have the Great [Mediterranean] Sea and its coastline. This shall be your western boundary.

⁷ ‘And this shall be your north border: from the Great [Mediterranean] Sea mark out your boundary line to ^[a]Mount Hor; ⁸ from Mount Hor you shall mark out your boundary to the entrance of Hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad; ⁹ then the [northern] boundary shall go on to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern boundary.

¹⁰ ‘You shall mark out your eastern boundary from Hazar-enan to Shepham; ¹¹ the [eastern] boundary shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and shall descend and reach to the ^[b]slope on the east of the Sea of Chinnereth [the Sea of Galilee]; ¹² and the [eastern] boundary shall go down to the Jordan [River], and its limit shall be at the Salt (Dead) Sea. This shall be your land according to its boundaries all around.’”

¹³ So Moses commanded the Israelites, saying, “This is the land you are to inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine tribes and the half-tribe [of Manasseh], ¹⁴ for the tribe of the sons of Reuben and the tribe of the sons of Gad have received their inheritance by their fathers’ households, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their possession. ¹⁵ The two and a half tribes have received their inheritance across the Jordan [River] opposite Jericho, eastward toward the sunrise.”

¹⁶ Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ¹⁷ “These are the names of the men who shall divide the land among you as an inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun. ¹⁸ You shall take one leader from every tribe to divide the land for the inheritance. ¹⁹ These are the names of the men: From the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh; ²⁰ from the tribe of the sons of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammihud; ²¹ from the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon; ²² from the tribe of the sons of Dan a leader, Bukki the son of Jogli; ²³ of the sons of Joseph: from the tribe of the sons of Manasseh a leader, Hanniel the son of Ephod; ²⁴ from the tribe of the sons of Ephraim a leader, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan; ²⁵ from the tribe of the sons of Zebulun a leader, Elizaphan the son of Parnach; ²⁶ from the tribe of the sons of Issachar a leader, Paltiel the son of Azzan; ²⁷ from the tribe of the sons of Asher a leader, Ahihud the son of Shelomi; ²⁸ from the tribe of the sons of Naphtali a leader, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.” ²⁹ These are the [twelve] men whom the Lord commanded [to work with Joshua and Eleazar] to divide the inheritance to the sons of Israel in the land of Canaan.