Numbers 36:1 - Deuteronomy 1:30

New King James Version

Marriage of Female Heirs

36 Now the chief fathers of the families of the ^(A)children of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and ^(B)spoke before Moses and before the leaders, the chief fathers of the children of Israel. ² And they said: ^(C)“The Lord commanded my lord Moses to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the children of Israel, and ^(D)my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. ³ Now if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be ^(E)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. ⁴ And when ^(F)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.”

⁵ Then Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying: ^(G)“What the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them ^[a]marry whom they think best, ^(H)but they may marry only within the family of their father’s tribe.’ ⁷ 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 ^(I)keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸ And ^(J)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. ⁹ Thus no inheritance shall change hands from one tribe to another, but every tribe of the children of Israel shall keep its own inheritance.”

¹⁰ Just as the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad; ^11 (K)for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to the sons of their father’s brothers. ¹² They were married into the families of the children of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.

¹³ These are the commandments and the judgments which the Lord commanded the children of Israel by the hand of Moses ^(L)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan, across from Jericho.

The Previous Command to Enter Canaan

1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel ^(M)on this side of the Jordan in the wilderness, in the ^[b]plain opposite ^[c]Suph, between Paran, Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab. ² It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir ^(N)to Kadesh Barnea. ³ Now it came to pass ^(O)in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had given him as commandments to them, ^4 (P)after he had killed Sihon king of the Amorites, who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who dwelt at Ashtaroth ^(Q)in^[d] Edrei.

⁵ On this side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses began to explain this law, saying, ⁶ “The Lord our God spoke to us ^(R)in Horeb, saying: ‘You have dwelt long ^(S)enough at this mountain. ⁷ Turn and take your journey, and go to the mountains of the Amorites, to all the neighboring places in the ^[e]plain, in the mountains and in the lowland, in the South and on the seacoast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the River Euphrates. ⁸ See, I have set the land before you; go in and possess the land which the Lord ^[f]swore to your fathers—to ^(T)Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to give to them and their descendants after them.’

Tribal Leaders Appointed^(U)

⁹ “And ^(V)I spoke to you at that time, saying: ‘I ^[g]alone am not able to bear you. ¹⁰ The Lord your God has multiplied you, ^(W)and here you are today, as the stars of heaven in multitude. ^11 (X)May the Lord God of your fathers make you a thousand times more numerous than you are, and bless you ^(Y)as He has promised you! ^12 (Z)How can I alone bear your problems and your burdens and your complaints? ¹³ Choose wise, understanding, and knowledgeable men from among your tribes, and I will make them ^[h]heads over you.’ ¹⁴ And you answered me and said, ‘The thing which you have told us to do is good.’ ¹⁵ So I took ^(AA)the heads of your tribes, wise and knowledgeable men, and ^[i]made them heads over you, leaders of thousands, leaders of hundreds, leaders of fifties, leaders of tens, and officers for your tribes.

¹⁶ “Then I commanded your judges at that time, saying, ‘Hear the cases between your brethren, and ^(AB)judge righteously between a man and his ^(AC)brother or the stranger who is with him. ^17 (AD)You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small as well as the great; you shall not be afraid in any man’s presence, for ^(AE)the judgment is God’s. The case that is too hard for you, ^(AF)bring to me, and I will hear it.’ ¹⁸ And I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Israel’s Refusal to Enter the Land^(AG)

¹⁹ “So we departed from Horeb, ^(AH)and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw on the way to the mountains of the Amorites, as the Lord our God had commanded us. Then ^(AI)we came to Kadesh Barnea. ²⁰ And I said to you, ‘You have come to the mountains of the Amorites, which the Lord our God is giving us. ²¹ Look, the Lord your God has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord God of your fathers has spoken to you; ^(AJ)do not fear or be discouraged.’

²² “And every one of you came near to me and said, ‘Let us send men before us, and let them search out the land for us, and bring back word to us of the way by which we should go up, and of the cities into which we shall come.’

²³ “The plan pleased me well; so ^(AK)I took twelve of your men, one man from each tribe. ^24 (AL)And they departed and went up into the mountains, and came to the Valley of Eshcol, and spied it out. ²⁵ They also took some of the fruit of the land in their hands and brought it down to us; and they brought back word to us, saying, ‘It is a ^(AM)good land which the Lord our God is giving us.’

^26 (AN)“Nevertheless you would not go up, but rebelled against the command of the Lord your God; ²⁷ and you ^(AO)complained in your tents, and said, ‘Because the Lord ^(AP)hates us, He has brought us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us. ²⁸ Where can we go up? Our brethren have ^[j]discouraged our hearts, saying, ^(AQ)“The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the ^(AR)Anakim there.” ’

²⁹ “Then I said to you, ‘Do not be terrified, ^(AS)or afraid of them. ^30 (AT)The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes,