A Law of Inheritance

27 Then ^(A)the daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came forward; and these are ^(B)the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ² They stood before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, before the leaders, and all the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, ³ “Our father ^(C)died in the wilderness, yet he was not among the group of those who gathered together against the Lord, in the group of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and ^(D)he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family simply because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s brothers.” ^5 (E)So Moses brought their case before the Lord.

⁶ Then the Lord said to ^[a]Moses, ⁷ “^(F)The daughters of Zelophehad are right about their statements. You shall certainly give them hereditary property among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them. ⁸ Further, you shall speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹ And 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 his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it; and it shall be a ^(G)statutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord has commanded Moses.’”

^12 (H)Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this ^(I)mountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel. ¹³ When you have seen it, you too ^(J)will be gathered to your people, ^(K)just as Aaron your brother ^[b]was; ¹⁴ for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, ^(L)you rebelled against My ^[c]command to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

Joshua to Succeed Moses

¹⁵ Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, ¹⁶ “^(M)May the Lord, the God of the spirits of ^[d]humanity, appoint a man over the congregation, ¹⁷ who ^(N)will go out ^[e]and come in before them, and lead them out and ^[f]bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be ^(O)like sheep that have no shepherd.” ¹⁸ So the Lord said to Moses, “^[g]Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man ^(P)in whom is the Spirit, and ^(Q)lay your hand on him; ¹⁹ and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and ^(R)commission him in their sight. ²⁰ And you shall put some of your ^[h]authority on him, so that all the congregation of the sons of Israel will obey him. ²¹ Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him ^(S)by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his ^[i]command they shall go out, and at his ^[j]command they shall come in, both he and all the sons of Israel with him, all the congregation.” ²² Then Moses did just as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation. ²³ Then he laid his hands on him and ^(T)commissioned him, just as the Lord had spoken ^[k]through Moses.

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “^(A)I am the true vine, and My Father is the ^(B)vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He ^[a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ^3 (C)You are already ^[b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ^4 (D)Remain in Me, ^[c]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit ^[d]of itself ^[e]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him ^[f](E)bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is ^(F)thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ^(G)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My ^(H)Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so ^[g](I)prove to be My disciples. ⁹ Just as ^(J)the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. ^10 (K)If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as ^(L)I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. ^11 (M)These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your ^(N)joy may be made full.

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

¹² “This is ^(O)My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ^13 (P)Greater love has no one than this, that a person will ^(Q)lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My ^(R)friends if ^(S)you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because ^(T)all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. ^16 (U)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and ^(V)bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that ^(W)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ¹⁷ This ^(X)I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸ “^(Y)If the world hates you, ^[h]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(Z)I chose you out of the world, ^(AA)because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(AB)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, ^(AC)they will persecute you as well; if they ^(AD)followed My word, they will follow yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you ^(AE)on account of My name, ^(AF)because they do not know the One who sent Me. ^22 (AG)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have ^[i]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates Me hates My Father also. ^24 (AH)If I had not done among them ^(AI)the works which no one else did, they would not have ^[j]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But this has happened so that the word that is written in their ^(AJ)Law will be fulfilled: ‘^(AK)They hated Me for no reason.’

²⁶ “When the ^[k](AL)Helper comes, ^(AM)whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, ^(AN)the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, ^(AO)He will testify about Me, ²⁷ and ^[l](AP)you are testifying as well, because you have been with Me ^(AQ)from the beginning.