Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Put Not Your Trust in Princes

Marriage of Female Heirs

36 The heads of the fathers' houses of the clan of the ^(A)people of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers' houses of the people of Israel. ² They said, ^(B)“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and ^(C)my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. ³ But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. ⁴ And when ^(D)the jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

⁵ And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph ^(E)is right. ⁶ This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best, ^(F)only they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. ⁷ The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel ^(G)shall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. ⁸ And ^(H)every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. ⁹ So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, ^11 (I)for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father's brothers. ¹² They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's clan.

¹³ These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel ^(J)in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

⁶ For ^(A)while we were still weak, at the right time ^(B)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— ⁸ but ^(C)God shows his love for us in that ^(D)while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹ Since, therefore, ^(E)we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from ^(F)the wrath of God. ¹⁰ For if ^(G)while we were enemies ^(H)we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by ^(I)his life. ¹¹ More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(J)reconciliation.