Inheritance Laws

27 Then came the daughters of ^(A)Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² And they stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: ³ “Our father ^(B)died in the wilderness; but he was not in the company of those who gathered together against the Lord, ^(C)in company with Korah, but he died in his own sin; and he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be ^(D)removed^[a] from among his family because he had no son? ^(E)Give us a ^[b]possession among our father’s brothers.”

⁵ So Moses ^(F)brought their case before the Lord.

⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ⁷ “The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; ^(G)you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them. ⁸ And you shall speak to the children of Israel, saying: ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the relative closest to him in his family, and he shall possess it.’ ” And it shall be to the children of Israel ^(H)a statute of judgment, just as the Lord commanded Moses.

Joshua the Next Leader of Israel^(I)

¹² Now the Lord said to Moses: ^(J)“Go up into this Mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the children of Israel. ¹³ And when you have seen it, you also ^(K)shall ^[c]be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered. ¹⁴ For in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you ^(L)rebelled against My command to hallow Me at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the ^(M)waters of Meribah, at Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵ Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying: ¹⁶ “Let the Lord, ^(N)the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, ^17 (O)who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be ^(P)like sheep which have no shepherd.”

¹⁸ And the Lord said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man ^(Q)in whom is the Spirit, and ^(R)lay your hand on him; ¹⁹ set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and ^(S)inaugurate^[d] him in their sight. ²⁰ And ^(T)you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel ^(U)may be obedient. ^21 (V)He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him ^(W)by the judgment of the Urim. ^(X)At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation.”

²² So Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. ²³ And he laid his hands on him ^(Y)and ^[e]inaugurated him, just as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.