Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Today's reading is from Numbers chapter 35 and 36.
Chapter 35
And the LORD spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho,
saying, command the children of Israel, that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from
the inheritance of their possession.
And ye shall also give the Levites common land around the cities.
They shall have the cities to dwell in, and their common land shall be for their cattle,
for their herds, and for all their animals.
The common land of the cities which ye will give the Levites shall extend from the wall
of the city outward a thousand cubits all around.
And ye shall measure outside the city on the east side two thousand cubits, on the south
side two thousand cubits, on the west side two thousand cubits, and on the north side
two thousand cubits.
The city shall be in the middle.
This shall belong to them as common land for the cities.
Now among the cities which ye will give to the Levites ye shall appoint six cities of
refuge to which a manslayer may flee.
And to these ye shall add forty-two cities.
So all the cities ye will give to the Levites shall be forty-eight.
These ye shall give with their common land.
And the cities which ye will give shall be from the possession of the children of Israel.
From the larger tribe ye shall give many, from the smaller ye shall give few.
Each shall give some of its cities to the Levites in proportion to the inheritance that
each receives.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses saying, Speak to the children of Israel and say to them,
When ye cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye shall appoint cities to be
cities of refuge for you.
The manslayer who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
They shall be cities of refuge for you from the avenger.
The manslayer may not die until he stands before the congregation in judgment.
And of the cities which ye give ye shall have six cities of refuge.
Ye shall appoint three cities on this side of the Jordan, and three cities ye shall appoint
in the land of Canaan which will be cities of refuge.
These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger and for
the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there.
But if he strikes him with an iron implement so that he dies, he is a murderer, the murderer
shall surely be put to death.
And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand by which one could die, and he does die,
he is a murderer, the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he
is a murderer, the murderer shall surely be put to death.
The avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death.
When he meets him, he shall put him to death.
If he pushes him out of hatred, or while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he
dies, or in enmity, he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him
shall surely be put to death.
He is a murderer, the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.
However, if he pushes him suddenly without enmity, or throws anything at him without
lying in wait, or uses a stone by which a man could die, throwing it at him without
seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, then the
congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these
judgments.
So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and
the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and he shall
remain there until the death of the high priest who was anointed with the holy oil.
But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he
fled and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge and the avenger
of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of blood, because he should have
remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest, but after the death of
the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.
And these things shall be a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all
your dwellings.
Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses,
but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty.
Moreover, you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death,
but he shall surely be put to death.
And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge that he may return
to dwell in the land before the death of the priest.
So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement
can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it except by the blood of him who
shed it.
Therefore, do not defile the land which you inhabit in the midst of which I dwell, for
I the LORD dwell among the children of Israel.
Chapter 36 Now the chief fathers of the families of the
children of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons
of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers
of the children of Israel.
And they said, The LORD commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot
to the children of Israel, and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance
of our brother Zilophiad to his daughters.
Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel,
then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers, and it will
be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry.
So it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance.
And when the Jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then 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 the tribe of our fathers.
Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the LORD, saying,
What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right.
This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zilophiad, saying, Let them
marry whom they think best, but they may marry only within the family of their fathers' tribe.
So the inheritance of the children of Israel shall not change hands from tribe to tribe,
for every one of the children of Israel shall keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
And every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall
be the wife of one of the family of her father's tribe, so that the children of Israel each
may possess the inheritance of his fathers.
Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the
children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.
Just as the LORD commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zilophiad.
Ammala, Dirza, Hogla, Melka, and Noah, the daughters of Zilophiad, were married to the
sons of their fathers' brothers.
They were married into the families of the children of Menasseh, the son of Joseph, and
their inheritance remained in the tribe of their fathers' family.
These are the commandments and the judgments which the LORD commanded the children of Israel
by the hand of Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.
And this is the conclusion of the fourth book of the Old Testament, and tomorrow, by the
grace of God, will begin the fifth and final book of the Pentateuch, the book of Deuteronomy.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did, and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.