52 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

53 “1Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names.

54 “aTo the larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to the smaller group you shall diminish their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance according to those who were numbered of them.

55 “But the land shall be adivided by lot. They shall 1receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers.

56 “According to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

57 aThese are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites.

58 These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. aKohath 1became the father of Amram.

59 The name of Amram’s wife awas Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam.

60 aTo Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar.

61 aBut Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the Lord.

62 Those who were numbered of them were a23,000, every male from a month old and upward, for bthey were not numbered among the sons of Israel csince no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

63 These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

64 aBut among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai.

65 For the Lord had said 1of them, “aThey shall surely die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, bexcept Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

Chapter 27

A Law of Inheritance

1 Then athe daughters of Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of Manasseh the son of Joseph, came near; and these are bthe names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah.

2 They stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the doorway of the tent of meeting, saying,

3 “Our father adied in the wilderness, yet he was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and bhe had no sons.

4 “Why should the name of our father be withdrawn from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers.”

5 aSo Moses brought their case before the Lord.

6 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying,

7 “aThe daughters of Zelophehad are right in their statements. You shall surely give them a hereditary possession among their father’s brothers, and you shall transfer the inheritance of their father to them.

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

9 ‘If he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.

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

11 ‘If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall possess it; and it shall be a astatutory ordinance to the sons of Israel, just as the Lord commanded Moses.’ ”

12 aThen the Lord said to Moses, “Go up to this bmountain of Abarim, and see the land which I have given to the sons of Israel.

13 “When you have seen it, you too awill be gathered to your people, bas Aaron your brother 1was;

14 for in the wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, ayou rebelled against My 1command 2to treat Me as holy before their eyes at the water.” (These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.)

Joshua to Succeed Moses

15 Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying,

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

17 who awill go out 1and come in before them, and who will lead them out and 2bring them in, so that the congregation of the Lord will not be blike sheep which have no shepherd.”

18 So the Lord said to Moses, “1Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man ain whom is the Spirit, and blay your hand on him;

19 and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and acommission him in their sight.

20 “You shall put some of your 1authority on him, in order that all the congregation of the sons of Israel may obey him.

21 “Moreover, he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him aby the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his 1command they shall go out and at his 1command they shall come in, both he and the sons of Israel with him, even all the congregation.”

22 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him; and he took Joshua and set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation.

23 Then he laid his hands on him and acommissioned him, just as the Lord had spoken 1through Moses.