Numbers 27-31

New Living Translation

The Daughters of Zelophehad

27 One day a petition was presented by the daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. Their father, Zelophehad, was a descendant of Hepher son of Gilead, son of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph. ² These women stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the tribal leaders, and the entire community at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^{[a] 3} “Our father died in the wilderness,” they said. “He was not among Korah’s followers, who rebelled against the Lord; he died because of his own sin. But he had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father disappear from his clan just because he had no sons? Give us property along with the rest of our relatives.”

⁵ So Moses brought their case before the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord replied to Moses, ⁷ “The claim of the daughters of Zelophehad is legitimate. You must give them a grant of land along with their father’s relatives. Assign them the property that would have been given to their father.

⁸ “And give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If a man dies and has no son, then give his inheritance to his daughters. ⁹ And if he has no daughter either, transfer his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ But if his father has no brothers, give his inheritance to the nearest relative in his clan. This is a legal requirement for the people of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Joshua Chosen to Lead Israel

¹² One day the Lord said to Moses, “Climb one of the mountains east of the river,^[b] and look out over the land I have given the people of Israel. ¹³ After you have seen it, you will die like your brother, Aaron, ¹⁴ for you both rebelled against my instructions in the wilderness of Zin. When the people of Israel rebelled, you failed to demonstrate my holiness to them at the waters.” (These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh^[c] in the wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵ Then Moses said to the Lord, ¹⁶ “O Lord, you are the God who gives breath to all creatures. Please appoint a new man as leader for the community. ¹⁷ Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸ The Lord replied, “Take Joshua son of Nun, who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. ¹⁹ Present him to Eleazar the priest before the whole community, and publicly commission him to lead the people. ²⁰ Transfer some of your authority to him so the whole community of Israel will obey him. ²¹ When direction from the Lord is needed, Joshua will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will use the Urim—one of the sacred lots cast before the Lord—to determine his will. This is how Joshua and the rest of the community of Israel will determine everything they should do.”

²² So Moses did as the Lord commanded. He presented Joshua to Eleazar the priest and the whole community. ²³ Moses laid his hands on him and commissioned him to lead the people, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

The Daily Offerings

28 The Lord said to Moses, ² “Give these instructions to the people of Israel: The offerings you present as special gifts are a pleasing aroma to me; they are my food. See to it that they are brought at the appointed times and offered according to my instructions.

³ “Say to the people: This is the special gift you must present to the Lord as your daily burnt offering. You must offer two one-year-old male lambs with no defects. ⁴ Sacrifice one lamb in the morning and the other in the evening. ⁵ With each lamb you must offer a grain offering of two quarts^[d] of choice flour mixed with one quart^[e] of pure oil of pressed olives. ⁶ This is the regular burnt offering instituted at Mount Sinai as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ⁷ Along with it you must present the proper liquid offering of one quart of alcoholic drink with each lamb, poured out in the Holy Place as an offering to the Lord. ⁸ Offer the second lamb in the evening with the same grain offering and liquid offering. It, too, is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

The Sabbath Offerings

⁹ “On the Sabbath day, sacrifice two one-year-old male lambs with no defects. They must be accompanied by a grain offering of four quarts^[f] of choice flour moistened with olive oil, and a liquid offering. ¹⁰ This is the burnt offering to be presented each Sabbath day, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying liquid offering.

The Monthly Offerings

¹¹ “On the first day of each month, present an extra burnt offering to the Lord of two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ¹² These must be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts^[g] with each bull, four quarts with the ram, ¹³ and two quarts with each lamb. This burnt offering will be a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. ¹⁴ You must also present a liquid offering with each sacrifice: two quarts^[h] of wine for each bull, a third of a gallon^[i] for the ram, and one quart^[j] for each lamb. Present this monthly burnt offering on the first day of each month throughout the year.

¹⁵ “On the first day of each month, you must also offer one male goat for a sin offering to the Lord. This is in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying liquid offering.

Offerings for the Passover

¹⁶ “On the fourteenth day of the first month,^[k] you must celebrate the Lord’s Passover. ¹⁷ On the following day—the fifteenth day of the month—a joyous, seven-day festival will begin, but no bread made with yeast may be eaten. ¹⁸ The first day of the festival will be an official day for holy assembly, and no ordinary work may be done on that day. ¹⁹ As a special gift you must present a burnt offering to the Lord—two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ²⁰ These will be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts with each bull, four quarts with the ram, ²¹ and two quarts with each of the seven lambs. ²² You must also offer a male goat as a sin offering to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the Lord.^{[l] 23} Present these offerings in addition to your regular morning burnt offering. ²⁴ On each of the seven days of the festival, this is how you must prepare the food offering that is presented as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. These will be offered in addition to the regular burnt offerings and liquid offerings. ²⁵ The seventh day of the festival will be another official day for holy assembly, and no ordinary work may be done on that day.

Offerings for the Festival of Harvest

²⁶ “At the Festival of Harvest,^[m] when you present the first of your new grain to the Lord, you must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work on that day. ²⁷ Present a special burnt offering on that day as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of two young bulls, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs. ²⁸ These will be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts with each bull, four quarts with the ram, ²⁹ and two quarts with each of the seven lambs. ³⁰ Also, offer one male goat to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the Lord. ³¹ Prepare these special burnt offerings, along with their liquid offerings, in addition to the regular burnt offering and its accompanying grain offering. Be sure that all the animals you sacrifice have no defects.

Offerings for the Festival of Trumpets

29 “Celebrate the Festival of Trumpets each year on the first day of the appointed month in early autumn.^[n] You must call an official day for holy assembly, and you may do no ordinary work. ² On that day you must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ³ These must be accompanied by grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts^[o] with the bull, four quarts^[p] with the ram, ⁴ and two quarts^[q] with each of the seven lambs. ⁵ In addition, you must sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering to purify yourselves and make yourselves right with the Lord.^{[r] 6} These special sacrifices are in addition to your regular monthly and daily burnt offerings, and they must be given with their prescribed grain offerings and liquid offerings. These offerings are given as a special gift to the Lord, a pleasing aroma to him.

Offerings for the Day of Atonement

⁷ “Ten days later, on the tenth day of the same month,^[s] you must call another holy assembly. On that day, the Day of Atonement, the people must go without food and must do no ordinary work. ⁸ You must present a burnt offering as a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ⁹ These offerings must be accompanied by the prescribed grain offerings of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts of choice flour with the bull, four quarts of choice flour with the ram, ¹⁰ and two quarts of choice flour with each of the seven lambs. ¹¹ You must also sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering. This is in addition to the sin offering of atonement and the regular daily burnt offering with its grain offering, and their accompanying liquid offerings.

Offerings for the Festival of Shelters

¹² “Five days later, on the fifteenth day of the same month,^[t] you must call another holy assembly of all the people, and you may do no ordinary work on that day. It is the beginning of the Festival of Shelters,^[u] a seven-day festival to the Lord. ¹³ On the first day of the festival, you must present a burnt offering as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of thirteen young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ¹⁴ Each of these offerings must be accompanied by a grain offering of choice flour moistened with olive oil—six quarts for each of the thirteen bulls, four quarts for each of the two rams, ¹⁵ and two quarts for each of the fourteen lambs. ¹⁶ You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

¹⁷ “On the second day of this seven-day festival, sacrifice twelve young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ¹⁸ Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ¹⁹ You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

²⁰ “On the third day of the festival, sacrifice eleven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ²¹ Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ²² You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

²³ “On the fourth day of the festival, sacrifice ten young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ²⁴ Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ²⁵ You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

²⁶ “On the fifth day of the festival, sacrifice nine young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ²⁷ Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ²⁸ You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

²⁹ “On the sixth day of the festival, sacrifice eight young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ³⁰ Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ³¹ You must also sacrifice a male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

³² “On the seventh day of the festival, sacrifice seven young bulls, two rams, and fourteen one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ³³ Each of these offerings of bulls, rams, and lambs must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ³⁴ You must also sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

³⁵ “On the eighth day of the festival, proclaim another holy day. You must do no ordinary work on that day. ³⁶ You must present a burnt offering as a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord. It will consist of one young bull, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs, all with no defects. ³⁷ Each of these offerings must be accompanied by its prescribed grain offering and liquid offering. ³⁸ You must also sacrifice one male goat as a sin offering, in addition to the regular burnt offering with its accompanying grain offering and liquid offering.

³⁹ “You must present these offerings to the Lord at your annual festivals. These are in addition to the sacrifices and offerings you present in connection with vows, or as voluntary offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, liquid offerings, or peace offerings.”

^40 [v]So Moses gave all of these instructions to the people of Israel as the Lord had commanded him.

Laws concerning Vows

30 ^[w]Then Moses summoned the leaders of the tribes of Israel and told them, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ² A man who makes a vow to the Lord or makes a pledge under oath must never break it. He must do exactly what he said he would do.

³ “If a young woman makes a vow to the Lord or a pledge under oath while she is still living at her father’s home, ⁴ and her father hears of the vow or pledge and does not object to it, then all her vows and pledges will stand. ⁵ But if her father refuses to let her fulfill the vow or pledge on the day he hears of it, then all her vows and pledges will become invalid. The Lord will forgive her because her father would not let her fulfill them.

⁶ “Now suppose a young woman makes a vow or binds herself with an impulsive pledge and later marries. ⁷ If her husband learns of her vow or pledge and does not object on the day he hears of it, her vows and pledges will stand. ⁸ But if her husband refuses to accept her vow or impulsive pledge on the day he hears of it, he nullifies her commitments, and the Lord will forgive her. ⁹ If, however, a woman is a widow or is divorced, she must fulfill all her vows and pledges.

¹⁰ “But suppose a woman is married and living in her husband’s home when she makes a vow or binds herself with a pledge. ¹¹ If her husband hears of it and does not object to it, her vow or pledge will stand. ¹² But if her husband refuses to accept it on the day he hears of it, her vow or pledge will be nullified, and the Lord will forgive her. ¹³ So her husband may either confirm or nullify any vows or pledges she makes to deny herself. ¹⁴ But if he does not object on the day he hears of it, then he is agreeing to all her vows and pledges. ¹⁵ If he waits more than a day and then tries to nullify a vow or pledge, he will be punished for her guilt.”

¹⁶ These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter who still lives at home.

Conquest of the Midianites

31 Then the Lord said to Moses, ² “On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.”

³ So Moses said to the people, “Choose some men, and arm them to fight the Lord’s war of revenge against Midian. ⁴ From each tribe of Israel, send 1,000 men into battle.” ⁵ So they chose 1,000 men from each tribe of Israel, a total of 12,000 men armed for battle. ⁶ Then Moses sent them out, 1,000 men from each tribe, and Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest led them into battle. They carried along the holy objects of the sanctuary and the trumpets for sounding the charge. ⁷ They attacked Midian as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed all the men. ⁸ All five of the Midianite kings—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—died in the battle. They also killed Balaam son of Beor with the sword.

⁹ Then the Israelite army captured the Midianite women and children and seized their cattle and flocks and all their wealth as plunder. ¹⁰ They burned all the towns and villages where the Midianites had lived. ¹¹ After they had gathered the plunder and captives, both people and animals, ¹² they brought them all to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and to the whole community of Israel, which was camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. ¹³ Moses, Eleazar the priest, and all the leaders of the community went to meet them outside the camp. ¹⁴ But Moses was furious with all the generals and captains^[x] who had returned from the battle.

¹⁵ “Why have you let all the women live?” he demanded. ¹⁶ “These are the very ones who followed Balaam’s advice and caused the people of Israel to rebel against the Lord at Mount Peor. They are the ones who caused the plague to strike the Lord’s people. ¹⁷ So kill all the boys and all the women who have had intercourse with a man. ¹⁸ Only the young girls who are virgins may live; you may keep them for yourselves. ¹⁹ And all of you who have killed anyone or touched a dead body must stay outside the camp for seven days. You must purify yourselves and your captives on the third and seventh days. ²⁰ Purify all your clothing, too, and everything made of leather, goat hair, or wood.”

²¹ Then Eleazar the priest said to the men who were in the battle, “The Lord has given Moses this legal requirement: ²² Anything made of gold, silver, bronze, iron, tin, or lead— ²³ that is, all metals that do not burn—must be passed through fire in order to be made ceremonially pure. These metal objects must then be further purified with the water of purification. But everything that burns must be purified by the water alone. ²⁴ On the seventh day you must wash your clothes and be purified. Then you may return to the camp.”

Division of the Plunder

²⁵ And the Lord said to Moses, ²⁶ “You and Eleazar the priest and the family leaders of each tribe are to make a list of all the plunder taken in the battle, including the people and animals. ²⁷ Then divide the plunder into two parts, and give half to the men who fought the battle and half to the rest of the people. ²⁸ From the army’s portion, first give the Lord his share of the plunder—one of every 500 of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, and goats. ²⁹ Give this share of the army’s half to Eleazar the priest as an offering to the Lord. ³⁰ From the half that belongs to the people of Israel, take one of every fifty of the prisoners and of the cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and other animals. Give this share to the Levites, who are in charge of maintaining the Lord’s Tabernacle.” ³¹ So Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses.

³² The plunder remaining from everything the fighting men had taken totaled 675,000 sheep and goats, ³³ 72,000 cattle, ³⁴ 61,000 donkeys, ³⁵ and 32,000 virgin girls.

³⁶ Half of the plunder was given to the fighting men. It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, ³⁷ of which 675 were the Lord’s share; ³⁸ 36,000 cattle, of which 72 were the Lord’s share; ³⁹ 30,500 donkeys, of which 61 were the Lord’s share; ⁴⁰ and 16,000 virgin girls, of whom 32 were the Lord’s share. ⁴¹ Moses gave all the Lord’s share to Eleazar the priest, just as the Lord had directed him.

⁴² Half of the plunder belonged to the people of Israel, and Moses separated it from the half belonging to the fighting men. ⁴³ It totaled 337,500 sheep and goats, ⁴⁴ 36,000 cattle, ⁴⁵ 30,500 donkeys, ⁴⁶ and 16,000 virgin girls. ⁴⁷ From the half-share given to the people, Moses took one of every fifty prisoners and animals and gave them to the Levites, who maintained the Lord’s Tabernacle. All this was done as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁴⁸ Then all the generals and captains came to Moses ⁴⁹ and said, “We, your servants, have accounted for all the men who went out to battle under our command; not one of us is missing! ⁵⁰ So we are presenting the items of gold we captured as an offering to the Lord from our share of the plunder—armbands, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces. This will purify our lives before the Lord and make us right with him.^[y]”

⁵¹ So Moses and Eleazar the priest received the gold from all the military commanders—all kinds of jewelry and crafted objects. ⁵² In all, the gold that the generals and captains presented as a gift to the Lord weighed about 420 pounds.^{[z] 53} All the fighting men had taken some of the plunder for themselves. ⁵⁴ So Moses and Eleazar the priest accepted the gifts from the generals and captains and brought the gold to the Tabernacle^[aa] as a reminder to the Lord that the people of Israel belong to him.