Zelophehad’s Daughters

27 Then the daughters of Zelophehad came forward. (Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph.) These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah, and Tirzah. ² They stood at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting before Moses and Eleazar the priest, before the tribal chiefs and the entire community. They said, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered together against the Lord along with the followers of Korah, but he died in his own sin. He had no sons. ⁴ Why should the name of our father be taken away from a place among his clan, because he had no son? Give us property among our father’s brothers.”

⁵ Moses brought their case before the Lord. ⁶ The Lord spoke to Moses: ⁷ “What the daughters of Zelophehad say is correct. You must give them property as an inheritance among their father’s brothers. You are to allow their father’s inheritance to be passed down to them. ⁸ You are to tell the Israelites, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you are to have his inheritance pass down to his daughter. ⁹ If he has no daughter, then you will give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he has no brothers, then you will give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father has no brothers, then you will give his inheritance to his closest relative from his clan, and he will take possession of it. This will be a legal statute for the Israelites, just as the Lord commanded Moses.’”

Joshua Will Succeed Moses

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Go up onto this mountain in the Abarim range and see the land which I have given to the Israelites. ¹³ After you have seen it, you yourself will also be gathered to your people just as Aaron your brother was gathered. ¹⁴ For when the community quarreled in the Wilderness of Zin, you both rebelled against my command to honor me as holy in their sight at the waters.” (This refers to the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵ Moses spoke to the Lord, ¹⁶ “May the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the community, ¹⁷ who will go out before them and come in before them, who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸ The Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and place your hand on him. ¹⁹ Have him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the entire community. You will commission him in their sight. ²⁰ You will give some of your authority to him so that the entire Israelite community will listen to him. ²¹ He will stand before Eleazar the priest, who will inquire for him before the Lord with the decision of the Urim. He and all the Israelites with him, the entire community, will go out at his command and come in at his command.”

²² Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the entire community. ²³ He placed his hands on him and commissioned him, just as the Lord spoke through Moses.