Numbers 26–27

The Men of Israel Are Counted a Second Time

26After the plague the Lord spoke to Moses and the priest Eleazar. Eleazar was the son of Aaron. The Lord said, ²“Count all of the men of Israel. Make a list of them by their families. Count all of the men who are able to serve in Israel’s army. They must be 20 years old or more.”

³At that time the people of Israel were on the flatlands of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho. Moses and the priest Eleazar spoke with them. They said, ⁴“Count all of the men who are 20 years old or more. Do it just as the Lord commanded Moses.”

Here are the men of Israel who came out of Egypt.

⁵Reuben was Israel’s oldest son. Here are the names of his sons.

The Hanochite family came from Hanoch.

The Palluite family came from Pallu.

⁶The Hezronite family came from Hezron.

The Carmite family came from Carmi.

⁷Those were the families of Reuben. The number of men was 43,730.

⁸Eliab was the son of Pallu. ⁹Eliab’s sons were Nemuel, Dathan and Abiram. Dathan and Abiram were the same community officials who refused to obey Moses and Aaron. They were among the followers of Korah who refused to obey the Lord. ¹⁰The ground opened its mouth. It swallowed them up along with Korah. The followers of Korah died when fire burned up 250 men. Their deaths were a warning to the rest of Israel. ¹¹But the family line of Korah didn’t die out completely.

¹²Here are the names of Simeon’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Nemuelite family came from Nemuel.

The Jaminite family came from Jamin.

The Jakinite family came from Jakin.

¹³The Zerahite family came from Zerah.

The Shaulite family came from Shaul.

¹⁴Those were the families of Simeon. The number of the men was 22,200.

¹⁵Here are the names of Gad’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Zephonite family came from Zephon.

The Haggite family came from Haggi.

The Shunite family came from Shuni.

¹⁶The Oznite family came from Ozni.

The Erite family came from Eri.

¹⁷The Arodite family came from Arodi.

The Arelite family came from Areli.

¹⁸Those were the families of Gad. The number of the men was 40,500.

¹⁹Er and Onan were sons of Judah. But they died in Canaan.

²⁰Here are the names of Judah’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Shelanite family came from Shelah.

The Perezite family came from Perez.

The Zerahite family came from Zerah.

²¹Here are the names of the sons of Perez.

The Hezronite family came from Hezron.

The Hamulite family came from Hamul.

²²Those were the families of Judah. The number of the men was 76,500.

²³Here are the names of Issachar’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Tolaite family came from Tola.

The Puite family came from Puah.

²⁴The Jashubite family came from Jashub.

The Shimronite family came from Shimron.

²⁵Those were the families of Issachar. The number of the men was 64,300.

²⁶Here are the names of Zebulun’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Seredite family came from Sered.

The Elonite family came from Elon.

The Jahleelite family came from Jahleel.

²⁷Those were the families of Zebulun. The number of the men was 60,500.

²⁸Here are the names of Joseph’s sons. They are listed by their families. The families came from Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph.

²⁹Here are the names of Manasseh’s sons.

The Makirite family came from Makir. Makir was the father of Gilead.

The Gileadite family came from Gilead.

³⁰Here are the names of Gilead’s sons.

The Iezerite family came from Iezer.

The Helekite family came from Helek.

³¹The Asrielite family came from Asriel.

The Shechemite family came from Shechem.

³²The Shemidaite family came from Shemida.

The Hepherite family came from Hepher.

³³Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. Zelophehad didn’t have any sons. All he had was daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.

³⁴Those were the families of Manasseh. The number of the men was 52,700.

³⁵Here are the names of Ephraim’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Shuthelahite family came from Shuthelah.

The Bekerite family came from Beker.

The Tahanite family came from Tahan.

³⁶The sons of Shuthelah were the Eranite family.

They came from Eran.

³⁷Those were the families of Ephraim. The number of the men was 32,500.

Those were the sons of Joseph. They are listed by their families.

³⁸Here are the names of Benjamin’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Belaite family came from Bela.

The Ashbelite family came from Ashbel.

The Ahiramite family came from Ahiram.

³⁹The Shuphamite family came from Shupham.

The Huphamite family came from Hupham.

⁴⁰Bela’s sons came from Ard and Naaman.

The Ardite family came from Ard.

The Naamite family came from Naaman.

⁴¹Those were the families of Benjamin. The number of the men was 45,600.

⁴²Here is the name of Dan’s son. He is listed by his family.

The Shuhamite family came from Shuham.

That was the family of Dan. ⁴³All of the men in Dan’s family were Shuhamites. The number of the men was 64,400.

⁴⁴Here are the names of Asher’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Imnite family came from Imnah.

The Ishvite family came from Ishvi.

The Beriite family came from Beriah.

⁴⁵Here are the names of the families that came from Beriah’s sons.

The Heberite family came from Heber.

The Malkielite family came from Malkiel.

⁴⁶Asher also had a daughter named Serah.

⁴⁷Those were the families of Asher. The number of the men was 53,400.

⁴⁸Here are the names of Naphtali’s sons. They are listed by their families.

The Jahzeelite family came from Jahzeel.

The Gunite family came from Guni.

⁴⁹The Jezerite family came from Jezer.

The Shillemite family came from Shillem.

⁵⁰Those were the families of Naphtali. The number of the men was 45,400.

⁵¹The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.

⁵²The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, ⁵³“I will give the land to them. The amount of land each family receives will be based on the number of its men. ⁵⁴Give a larger share to a larger family. Give a smaller share to a smaller family. Each family will receive its share based on the number of men who are listed in it.

⁵⁵“Be sure that you use lots when you give out the land. What each family receives will be based on the number of men listed in its tribe. ⁵⁶Use lots when you give out each share. Use lots for the larger and smaller families alike.”

⁵⁷Here are the names of the Levites. They are listed by their families.

The Gershonite family came from Gershon.

The Kohathite family came from Kohath.

The Merarite family came from Merari.

⁵⁸Here are the names of the other Levite families. They are

the Libnite family,

the Hebronite family,

the Mahlite family,

the Mushite family,

the Korahite family.

Amram came from the Kohathite family.

⁵⁹The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed. She was from the family line of Levi. She was born to the Levites in Egypt. Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam were born in the family line of Amram and Jochebed.

⁶⁰Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu. He was also the father of Eleazar and Ithamar. ⁶¹But Nadab and Abihu made an offering to the Lord by using fire that wasn’t allowed. So they died.

⁶²The number of male Levites who were a month old or more was 23,000. They weren’t listed along with the other men of Israel. That’s because they didn’t receive a share among them.

⁶³Those are the men who were counted by Moses and the priest Eleazar. At that time the people of Israel were on the flatlands of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho.

⁶⁴The men of Israel had been counted before in the Sinai Desert by Moses and the priest Aaron. But not one of them was among the men who were counted this time. ⁶⁵The Lord had told the people of Israel at Kadesh Barnea that they would certainly die in the desert. Not one of them was left alive except Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua, the son of Nun.

Zelophehad’s Daughters

27The daughters of Zelophehad belonged to the family groups of Manasseh. Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. Hepher was the son of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Makir. Makir was the son of Manasseh. And Manasseh was the son of Joseph. The names of Zelophehad’s daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They approached ²the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. There they stood in front of Moses and the priest Eleazar. The leaders and the whole community were there too.

Zelophehad’s daughters said, ³“Our father died in the Sinai Desert. But he wasn’t one of the men who followed Korah. He wasn’t one of those who joined together against the Lord. Our father died because of his own sin. He didn’t leave any sons.

⁴“Why should our father’s name disappear from his family just because he didn’t have a son? Give us property among our father’s relatives.”

⁵So Moses brought their case to the Lord. ⁶The Lord spoke to him. He said, ⁷“What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property. Give them a share among their father’s relatives. Turn their father’s property over to them.

⁸“Say to the people of Israel, ‘Suppose a man dies who doesn’t have a son. Then turn his property over to his daughter. ⁹Suppose the man doesn’t have a daughter. Then give his property to his brothers. ¹⁰Suppose the man doesn’t have any brothers. Then give his property to his father’s brothers. ¹¹Suppose his father doesn’t have any brothers. Then give his property to the nearest male relative in his family group. It will belong to him. That is what the law will require of the people of Israel. It is just as the Lord commanded me.’ ”

Joshua Becomes Israel’s New Leader

¹²Then the Lord spoke to Moses. He said, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim range. See the land I have given the people of Israel. ¹³After you have seen it, you too will join the members of your family who have already died. You will die, just as your brother Aaron did.

¹⁴“The community refused to obey me at the waters of Meribah Kadesh. At that time, you and Aaron did not obey my command. You did not honor me in front of them as the holy God.”…