Numbers 27:12–23

JOSHUA COMMISSIONED TO SUCCEED MOSES

¹²Then the Lord said to Moses,ⁱ “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range and see the land that I have given the Israelites. ¹³After you have seen it, you will also be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was.^{a 14}When the community quarreled in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against my command to demonstrate my holiness in their sight at the waters.” Those were the Waters of Meribah-kadesh^B in the Wilderness of Zin.^b

¹⁵So Moses appealed to the Lord, ¹⁶“May the Lord, the God who gives breath to all,^Cc appoint a man over the community ¹⁷who will go out before them and come back in before them,^d and who will bring them out and bring them in, so that the Lord’s community won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.”^e

¹⁸The Lord replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man who has the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him.^{f 19}Have him stand before the priest Eleazar and the whole community, and commission^g him in their sight. ²⁰Confer some of your authority on him so that the entire Israelite community will obey him. ²¹He will stand before the priest Eleazar who will consult the Lord for him with the decision of the Urim.^h He and all the Israelites with him, even the entire community, will go out and come back in at his command.”

²²Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua, had him stand before the priest Eleazar and the entire community, ²³laid his hands on him, and commissioned him, as the Lord had spoken through Moses.