The Daughters of Zelophehad
And the daughters of Zelophehad came near — 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. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
And they stood before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, at the door of the Tent of Meeting, saying,
“Our father died in the wilderness. And he was not among the company of those who gathered together against the LORD in the company of Korah; but he died in his own sin, and he had no sons.
Why should the name of our father be taken away from the midst of his family because he has no son? Give us a holding among our father’s brothers.”
And Moses brought their case near, before the LORD.
And the LORD said to Moses, saying,
“Rightly do the daughters of Zelophehad speak. You shall surely give them a holding of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and you shall pass their father’s inheritance over to them.
And to the sons of Israel you shall speak, saying: When a man dies and has no son, then you shall pass his inheritance over to his daughter.
And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.
And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers.
And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative from his family, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the sons of Israel a statute of judgment, as the LORD commanded Moses.”
Moses Requests a Successor
And the LORD said to Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim, and see the land that I have given to the sons of Israel.
And when you have seen it, you also shall be gathered to your people, as Aaron your brother was gathered —
because you rebelled against my mouth in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to treat me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” These are the waters of Meribah of Kadesh, in the wilderness of Zin.
And Moses spoke to the LORD, saying,
“Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation
who will go out before them and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in — so that the congregation of the LORD is not like sheep that have no shepherd.”
Joshua to Succeed Moses
And the LORD said to Moses, “Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.
And stand him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and commission him before their eyes.
And you shall put some of your majesty on him, so that all the congregation of the sons of Israel will listen.
And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his mouth they shall go out, and at his mouth they shall come in — he, and all the sons of Israel with him, and all the congregation.”
And Moses did as the LORD had commanded him; and he took Joshua and stood him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation,
and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him, as the LORD had spoken by the hand of Moses.