Numbers 27

¹Then drew near the daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher , son of Gilead , son of Machir , son of Manasseh , from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph . The names of his daughters were: Mahlah , Noah , Hoglah , Milcah , and Tirzah .

²And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation , at the entrance of the tent of meeting , saying ,

³Our father died in the wilderness . He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah , but died for his own sin . And he had no sons .

⁴Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son ? Give to us a possession among our father’s brothers .

⁵Moses brought their case before the Lord.

⁶And the Lord said to Moses ,

⁷The daughters of Zelophehad are right . You shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them.

⁸And you shall speak to the people of Israel , saying , If a man dies and has no son , then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter .

⁹And if he has no daughter , then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers .

¹⁰And if he has no brothers , then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers .

¹¹And if his father has no brothers , then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest kinsman of his clan , and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel a statute and rule , as the Lord commanded Moses .

¹²The Lord said to Moses , Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel .

¹³When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people , as your brother Aaron was ,

¹⁴because you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled , failing to uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes . ( These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin .)

¹⁵Moses spoke to the Lord, saying ,

¹⁶Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh , appoint a man over the congregation

¹⁷who shall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in , that the congregation of the Lord may not be as sheep that have no shepherd .

¹⁸So the Lord said to Moses , Take Joshua the son of Nun , a man in whom is the Spirit , and lay your hand on him.

¹⁹Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation , and you shall commission him in their sight .

²⁰You shall invest him with some of your authority , that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey .

²¹And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest , who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out , and at his word they shall come in , both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation .

²²And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation ,

²³and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses .