Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

The Property Zelophehad’s Daughters Will Receive

36 The heads of the families of Gilead came to Moses. Gilead was the son of Makir. The family heads were from the tribe of Manasseh. So they were in the family line of Joseph. They spoke to Moses in front of the leaders of the families of Israel. ² They said, “The Lord commanded you to give shares of the land to the Israelites. He told you to cast lots when you do it. At that time the Lord ordered you to give our brother Zelophehad’s share to his daughters. ³ Suppose they marry men from other tribes in Israel. Then their share will be taken away from our family’s land. It will be added to the land of the tribe they marry into. So a part of the share given to us will be taken away. ⁴ The Year of Jubilee for the Israelites will come. Then their share will be added to the land of the tribe they marry into. Their land will be taken away from the share given to our tribe.”

⁵ Then the Lord gave a command to Moses. He told Moses to give an order to the Israelites. Moses said, “What the tribe in the family line of Joseph is saying is right. ⁶ Here is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters. They can marry anyone they want to. But they have to marry someone in their own family’s tribe. ⁷ Property in Israel must not pass from one tribe to another. Everyone in Israel must keep their family’s share of their tribe’s land. ⁸ Suppose a daughter in any tribe of Israel receives land from her parents. Then she must marry someone in her father’s family and tribe. In that way, every family’s share will remain in its family line in Israel. ⁹ Property can’t pass from one tribe to another. Each tribe of Israel must keep the land it receives.”

¹⁰ So Zelophehad’s daughters did just as the Lord commanded Moses. ¹¹ The names of the daughters were Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milkah and Noah. All of them married their cousins on their father’s side. ¹² They married men in the family line of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. So the land they received remained in their father’s family and tribe.

¹³ These are the commands and rules the Lord gave through Moses. He gave them to the Israelites on the plains of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

⁶ At just the right time Christ died for ungodly people. He died for us when we had no power of our own. ⁷ It is unusual for anyone to die for a godly person. Maybe someone would be willing to die for a good person. ⁸ But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

⁹ The blood of Christ has made us right with God. So we are even more sure that Jesus will save us from God’s anger. ¹⁰ Once we were God’s enemies. But we have been brought back to him because his Son has died for us. Now that God has brought us back, we are even more secure. We know that we will be saved because Christ lives. ¹¹ And that is not all. We are full of joy in God because of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of him, God has brought us back to himself.