1These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt in their armies, under the direction of Moses and Aaron. 2And the stages of their journey on their way out were put down in writing by Moses at the order of the Lord: these are the stages of their journey and the way they went. 3On the fifteenth day of the first month they went out from Rameses; on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out by the power of the Lord before the eyes of all the Egyptians, 4While the Egyptians were placing in the earth the bodies of their sons on whom the Lord had sent destruction: and their gods had been judged by him. 5So the children of Israel went from Rameses and put up their tents in Succoth. 6And they went on from Succoth and put up their tents in Etham on the edge of the waste land. 7And from Etham, turning back to Pi-hahiroth which is before Baal-zephon, they put up their tents before Migdol. 8And journeying on from before Hahiroth, they went through the sea into the waste land: they went three days' journey through the waste land of Etham and put up their tents in Marah. 9And from Marah they went on to Elim: and in Elim there were twelve water-springs and seventy palm-trees; and they put up their tents there. 10And they went on from Elim and put up their tents by the Red Sea. 11Then from the Red Sea they went on and put up their tents in the waste land of Sin. 12And they went on from the waste land of Sin, and put up their tents in Dophkah. 13And they went on from Dophkah, and put up their tents in Alush. 14And they went on from Alush, and put up their tents in Rephidim, where there was no drinking-water for the people. 15And they went on from Rephidim, and put up their tents in the waste land of Sinai. 16And they went on from the waste land of Sinai and put up their tents in Kibroth-hattaavah. 17And they went on from Kibroth-hattaavah, and put up their tents in Hazeroth. 18And they went on from Hazeroth, and put up their tents in Rithmah. 19And they went on from Rithmah, and put up their tents in Rimmon-perez. 20And they went on from Rimmon-perez, and put up their tents in Libnah. 21And they went on from Libnah, and put up their tents in Rissah. 22And they went on from Rissah, and put up their tents in Kehelathah. 23And they went on from Kehelathah, and put up their tents in Mount Shepher. 24And they went on from Mount Shepher, and put up their tents in Haradah. 25And they went on from Haradah, and put up their tents in Makheloth. 26And they went on from Makheloth, and put up their tents in Tahath. 27And they went on from Tahath, and put up their tents in Terah. 28And they went on from Terah, and put up their tents in Mithkah. 29And they went on from Mithkah, and put up their tents in Hashmonah. 30And they went on from Hashmonah, and put up their tents in Moseroth. 31And they went on from Moseroth, and put up their tents in Bene-jaakan. 32And they went on from Bene-jaakan, and put up their tents in Hor-haggidgad. 33And they went on from Hor-haggidgad, and put up their tents in Jotbathah. 34And they went on from Jotbathah, and put up their tents in Abronah. 35And they went on from Abronah, and put up their tents in Ezion-geber. 36And they went on from Ezion-geber, and put up their tents in the waste land of Zin (which is Kadesh). 37And they went on from Kadesh, and put up their tents in Mount Hor, on the edge of the land of Edom. 38And Aaron the priest went up into the mountain at the order of the Lord, and came to his death there, in the fortieth year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt, in the fifth month, on the first day of the month. 39Aaron was a hundred and twenty-three years old at the time of his death in Mount Hor. 40And news of the coming of the children of Israel came to the king of Arad, the Canaanite, who was living in the South in the land of Canaan. 41And from Mount Hor they went on, and put up their tents in Zalmonah. 42And they went on from Zalmonah, and put up their tents in Punon. 43And they went on from Punon, and put up their tents in Oboth. 44And they went on from Oboth, and put up their tents in Iye-abarim at the edge of Moab. 45And they went on from Iyim, and put up their tents in Dibon-gad. 46And from Dibon-gad they went on, and put up their tents in Almon-diblathaim. 47And from Almon-diblathaim they went on, and put up their tents in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48And they went on from the mountains of Abarim, and put up their tents in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho; 49Planting their tents by the side of Jordan from Beth-jeshimoth as far as Abel-shittim in the lowlands of Moab. 50And in the lowlands of Moab by Jordan at Jericho, the Lord said to Moses, 51Say to the children of Israel, When you go over Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52See that all the people of the land are forced out from before you, and put to destruction all their pictured stones, and all their metal images, and all their high places: 53And take the land for yourselves, for your resting-place: for to you I have given the land as your heritage. 54And you will take up your heritage in the land by the decision of the Lord, to every family its part; the greater the family the greater its heritage, and the smaller the family the smaller will be its heritage; wherever the decision of the Lord gives to any man his part, that will be his; distribution will be made to you by your fathers' tribes. 55But if you are slow in driving out the people of the land, then those of them who are still there will be like pin-points in your eyes and like thorns in your sides, troubling you in the land where you are living. 56And it will come about that as it was my purpose to do to them, so I will do to you.
Matthew Henry's Commentary
Encampments of the Israelites. (1-49) The Canaanites to be destroyed. (50-56) 1-49 This is a brief review of the travels of the children of Israel through the wilderness. It is a memorable history. In their travels towards Canaan they were continually on the remove. Such is our state in this world; we have here no continuing city, and all our removes in this world are but from one part a desert to another. They were led to and fro, forward and backward, yet were all the while under the direction of the pillar of cloud and fire. God led them about, yet led them the right way. The way God takes in bringing his people to himself is always the best way, though it does not always seem to us the nearest way. Former events are mentioned. Thus we ought to keep in mind the providences of God concerning us and families, us and our land, and the many instances of that Divine care which has led us, and fed us, and kept us all our days hitherto. Few periods of our lives can be thought upon, without reminding us of the Lord's goodness, and our own ingratitude and disobedience: his kindness leaves us without excuse for our sins. We could not wish to travel over again the stages we have passed, unless we could hope, by the grace of God, to shun the sins we then committed, and to embrace such opportunities of doing good as we have let slip. Soon will our wanderings end, and our eternal state be fixed beyond recall; how important then is the present moment! Happy are those whom the Lord now guides with his counsel, and will at length receive to his glory. To this happiness the gospel calls us. Behold now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Let sinners seize the opportunity, and flee for refuge to the hope set before them. Let us redeem our time, to glorify God and serve our generation; and he will carry us safely through all, to his eternal kingdom. 50-56 Now that they were to pass over Jordan, they were entering again into temptation to follow idols; and they are threatened that, if they spared either the idols or the idolaters, their sin would certainly be their punishment. They would foster vipers in their own bosoms. The remnant of the Canaanites, if they made any peace with them, though but for a time, would be pricks in their eyes, and thorns in their sides. We must expect trouble and affliction from whatever sin we indulge; that which we are willing should tempt us, will vex us. It was intended that the Canaanites should be put out of the land; but if the Israelites learned their wicked ways, they also would be put out. Let us hear this and fear. If we do not drive out sin, sin will drive us out. If we are not the death of our lusts, our lusts will be the death of our souls.