1These are the journeys of the children of Israel, when they went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron. 2Moses wrote the starting points of their journeys by the commandment of Yahweh. These are their journeys according to their starting points. 3They traveled from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the next day after the Passover, the children of Israel went out with a high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians, 4while the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn, whom Yahweh had struck among them. Yahweh also executed judgments on their gods. 5The children of Israel traveled from Rameses, and encamped in Succoth. 6They traveled from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, which is in the edge of the wilderness. 7They traveled from Etham, and turned back to Pihahiroth, which is before Baal Zephon, and they encamped before Migdol. 8They traveled from before Hahiroth, and crossed through the middle of the sea into the wilderness. They went three days’ journey in the wilderness of Etham, and encamped in Marah. 9They traveled from Marah, and came to Elim. In Elim, there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there. 10They traveled from Elim, and encamped by the Red Sea. 11They traveled from the Red Sea, and encamped in the wilderness of Sin. 12They traveled from the wilderness of Sin, and encamped in Dophkah. 13They traveled from Dophkah, and encamped in Alush. 14They traveled from Alush, and encamped in Rephidim, where there was no water for the people to drink. 15They traveled from Rephidim, and encamped in the wilderness of Sinai. 16They traveled from the wilderness of Sinai, and encamped in Kibroth Hattaavah. 17They traveled from Kibroth Hattaavah, and encamped in Hazeroth. 18They traveled from Hazeroth, and encamped in Rithmah. 19They traveled from Rithmah, and encamped in Rimmon Perez. 20They traveled from Rimmon Perez, and encamped in Libnah. 21They traveled from Libnah, and encamped in Rissah. 22They traveled from Rissah, and encamped in Kehelathah. 23They traveled from Kehelathah, and encamped in Mount Shepher. 24They traveled from Mount Shepher, and encamped in Haradah. 25They traveled from Haradah, and encamped in Makheloth. 26They traveled from Makheloth, and encamped in Tahath. 27They traveled from Tahath, and encamped in Terah. 28They traveled from Terah, and encamped in Mithkah. 29They traveled from Mithkah, and encamped in Hashmonah. 30They traveled from Hashmonah, and encamped in Moseroth. 31They traveled from Moseroth, and encamped in Bene Jaakan. 32They traveled from Bene Jaakan, and encamped in Hor Haggidgad. 33They traveled from Hor Haggidgad, and encamped in Jotbathah. 34They traveled from Jotbathah, and encamped in Abronah. 35They traveled from Abronah, and encamped in Ezion Geber. 36They traveled from Ezion Geber, and encamped at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin. 37They traveled from Kadesh, and encamped in Mount Hor, in the edge of the land of Edom. 38Aaron the priest went up into Mount Hor at the commandment of Yahweh and died 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 one hundred twenty-three years old when he died in Mount Hor. 40The Canaanite king of Arad, who lived in the South in the land of Canaan, heard of the coming of the children of Israel. 41They traveled from Mount Hor, and encamped in Zalmonah. 42They traveled from Zalmonah, and encamped in Punon. 43They traveled from Punon, and encamped in Oboth. 44They traveled from Oboth, and encamped in Iye Abarim, in the border of Moab. 45They traveled from Iyim, and encamped in Dibon Gad. 46They traveled from Dibon Gad, and encamped in Almon Diblathaim. 47They traveled from Almon Diblathaim, and encamped in the mountains of Abarim, before Nebo. 48They traveled from the mountains of Abarim, and encamped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 49They encamped by the Jordan, from Beth Jeshimoth even to Abel Shittim in the plains of Moab. 50Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 51Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, “When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their stone idols, destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. 53You shall take possession of the land, and dwell therein; for I have given the land to you to possess it. 54You shall inherit the land by lot according to your families; to the larger groups you shall give a larger inheritance, and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance. Wherever the lot falls to any man, that shall be his. You shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers.
55“But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then those you let remain of them will be like pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land in which you dwell. 56It shall happen that as I thought to do to them, so I will do to you.”
Aaron was the son of Amram and Jochebed, the brother of Moses and Miriam, and the first priest of Israel. God appointed Aaron to be Moses' spokesman in his audiences with the unnamed Pharaoh of Exodus. As a symbol of his office, Aaron received a magical rod. He turned the rod into a snake - the first in a series of signs, by which he and Moses hoped to persuade Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave Egypt. Aaron also used the rod to call down three of the plagues that followed this first sign (polluting the Nile, frogs and gnats). God also caused the rod to blossom and bear ripe almonds, as a sign that Aaron's descendants would inherit the priesthood.
God summoned Aaron to be present when Moses received the Ten Commandments. But Aaron did not stay on Sinai. Instead he agreed to oversee the casting of an idol (a golden calf) for the Israelites who had rebelled against the authority of the absent Moses.
Aaron was generally a supporter of Moses, but took him to task for his marrying a Cushite wife. For this God rebuked Aaron (and Miriam). His role as priest was critical when he made atonement for the Israelites and stayed the plague that had followed the rebellion of Dathan and Abiram. Exodus and Leviticus give a detailed account of the vestments and duties of Aaron and of his sons.
Aaron's elder sons, Nadab and Abihu, died early but the younger pair, Eleazar and Ithamar, succeeded him in the priesthood. When Aaron was a hundred and twenty three, God instructed him to go up onto Mt. Hor, where he died. Aaron figures prominently in Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers, and is named in other books of both Old and New Testaments.