Thus was the order of march of the children of Israel, according to their armies, when they began their journey.
Now Moses said to Hobab the son of Reuel the Midianite, Moses’ father-in-law, “We are setting out for the place of which the Lord said, ‘I will give it to you.’ Come with us, and we will treat you well; for the Lord has promised good things to Israel.”
And he said to him, “I will not go, but I will depart to my own land and to my relatives.”
So Moses said, “Please do not leave, inasmuch as you know how we are to camp in the wilderness, and you can be our eyes.
And it shall be, if you go with us—indeed it shall be—that whatever good the Lord will do to us, the same we will do to you.”
So they departed from the mountain of the Lord on a journey of three days; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them for the three days’ journey, to search out a resting place for them.
And the cloud of the Lord was above them by day when they went out from the camp.
Numbers 10:28-34
