The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 God spoke to Moses:
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The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
2 "Command the People of Israel. Tell them: When you enter Canaan, these are the borders of the land you are getting as an inheritance:
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“Command the people of Israel, and say to them, When you enter the land of Canaan (this is the land that shall fall to you for an inheritance, the land of Canaan as defined by its borders),
3 "Your southern border will take in some of the Wilderness of Zin where it touches Edom. It starts in the east at the Dead Sea,
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your south side shall be from the wilderness of Zin alongside Edom, and your southern border shall run from the end of the Salt Sea on the east.
4 curves south of Scorpion Pass and on to Zin, continues south of Kadesh Barnea, then to Hazar Addar and on to Azmon,
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And your border shall turn south of the ascent of Akrabbim, and cross to Zin, and its limit shall be south of Kadesh-barnea. Then it shall go on to Hazar-addar, and pass along to Azmon.
5 where it takes a turn to the northwest to the Brook of Egypt and on to the Mediterranean Sea.
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And the border shall turn from Azmon to the Brook of Egypt, and its limit shall be at the sea.
6 "Your western border will be the Mediterranean Sea.
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“For the western border, you shall have the Great Sea and its coast. This shall be your western border.
7 "Your northern border runs on a line from the Mediterranean Sea to Mount Hor,
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“This shall be your northern border: from the Great Sea you shall draw a line to Mount Hor.
8 and from Mount Hor to Lebo Hamath, connects to Zedad,
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From Mount Hor you shall draw a line to Lebo-hamath, and the limit of the border shall be at Zedad.
9 continues to Ziphron, and ends at Hazar Enan. This is your northern border.
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Then the border shall extend to Ziphron, and its limit shall be at Hazar-enan. This shall be your northern border.
10 "Your eastern border runs on a line from Hazar Enan to Shepham.
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“You shall draw a line for your eastern border from Hazar-enan to Shepham.
11 The border goes south from Shepham to Riblah to the east of Ain, and continues along the slopes east of the Sea of Galilee.
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And the border shall go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain. And the border shall go down and reach to the shoulder of the Sea of Chinnereth on the east.
12 The border then follows the Jordan River and ends at the Dead Sea. "This is your land with its four borders."
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And the border shall go down to the Jordan, and its limit shall be at the Salt Sea. This shall be your land as defined by its borders all around. ”
13 Moses then commanded the People of Israel: "This is the land: Divide up the inheritance by lot. God has ordered it to be given to the nine and a half tribes.
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Moses commanded the people of Israel, saying, “This is the land that you shall inherit by lot, which the Lord has commanded to give to the nine tribes and to the half-tribe.
14 The tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance;
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For the tribe of the people of Reuben by fathers’ houses and the tribe of the people of Gad by their fathers’ houses have received their inheritance, and also the half-tribe of Manasseh.
15 the two tribes and the half-tribe got their inheritance east of Jordan-Jericho, facing the sunrise."
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The two tribes and the half-tribe have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, toward the sunrise. ”
16 God spoke to Moses:
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The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,
17 "These are the men who will be in charge of distributing the inheritance of the land: Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun.
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“These are the names of the men who shall divide the land to you for inheritance: Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun.
18 Assign one leader from each tribe to help them in distributing the land.
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You shall take one chief from every tribe to divide the land for inheritance.
19 Assign these: Caleb son of Jephunneh from the tribe of Judah;
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These are the names of the men: Of the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Jephunneh.
20 Shemuel son of Ammihud from the tribe of Simeon;
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Of the tribe of the people of Simeon, Shemuel the son of Ammihud.
21 Elidad son of Kislon from the tribe of Benjamin;
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Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chislon.
22 Bukki son of Jogli, leader from the tribe of Dan;
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Of the tribe of the people of Dan a chief, Bukki the son of Jogli.
23 Hanniel son of Ephod, leader from the tribe of Manasseh son of Joseph;
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Of the people of Joseph: of the tribe of the people of Manasseh a chief, Hanniel the son of Ephod.
24 Kemuel son of Shiphtan, leader from the tribe of Ephraim son of Joseph;
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And of the tribe of the people of Ephraim a chief, Kemuel the son of Shiphtan.
25 Elizaphan son of Parnach, leader from the tribe of Zebulun;
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Of the tribe of the people of Zebulun a chief, Elizaphan the son of Parnach.
26 Paltiel son of Azzan, leader from the tribe of Issachar;
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Of the tribe of the people of Issachar a chief, Paltiel the son of Azzan.
27 Ahihud son of Shelomi, leader from the tribe of Asher;
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And of the tribe of the people of Asher a chief, Ahihud the son of Shelomi.
28 Pedahel son of Ammihud, leader from the tribe of Naphtali."
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Of the tribe of the people of Naphtali a chief, Pedahel the son of Ammihud.
29 These are the men God commanded to hand out the assignments of land-inheritance to the People of Israel in the country of Canaan.
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These are the men whom the Lord commanded to divide the inheritance for the people of Israel in the land of Canaan. ”
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025