February 20

Numbers 25:1 — 27:23

25 Now Israel was dwelling in Shittim. Then the people started to have immoral relations with the daughters of Moab. 2 And the women came calling the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people began to eat and to bow down to their gods. 3 So Israel attached itself to the Baal of Peor; and the anger of Jehovah began to blaze against Israel. 4 Hence Jehovah said to Moses: “Take all the head ones of the people and expose them to Jehovah toward the sun, that the burning anger of Jehovah may turn back from Israel.” 5 Then Moses said to the judges of Israel: “Each one of YOU kill his men who have an attachment with the Baal of Peor.”

6 But, look! a man of the sons of Israel came, and he was bringing near to his brothers a Midianite woman before Moses’ eyes and before the eyes of all the assembly of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest caught sight of it, he at once got up from the midst of the assembly and took a lance in his hand. 8 Then he went after the man of Israel into the vaulted tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman through her genital parts. At that the scourge was halted from upon the sons of Israel. 9 And those who died from the scourge amounted to twenty-four thousand.

10 Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: 11 “Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest has turned back my wrath from upon the sons of Israel by his tolerating no rivalry at all toward me in the midst of them, so that I have not exterminated the sons of Israel in my insistence on exclusive devotion. 12 For that reason say, ‘Here I am giving him my covenant of peace. 13 And it must serve as the covenant of a priesthood to time indefinite for him and his offspring after him, due to the fact that he tolerated no rivalry toward his God and proceeded to make atonement for the sons of Israel.’”

14 Incidentally the name of the fatally struck Israelite man who was fatally struck with the Midianitess was Zimri the son of Salu, a chieftain of a paternal house of the Simeonites. 15 And the name of the Midianite woman fatally struck was Cozbi the daughter of Zur; he was a head one of the clans of a paternal house in Midian.

16 Later Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: 17 “Let there be a harassing of the Midianites, and YOU men must strike them, 18 because they are harassing YOU with their deeds of cunning that they committed against YOU cunningly in the affair of Peor and in the affair of Cozbi the daughter of a chieftain of Midian, their sister who was fatally struck in the day of the scourge over the affair of Peor.”

26 And it came about after the scourge, that Jehovah went on to say this to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest: 2 “TAKE the sum of the whole assembly of the sons of Israel from twenty years of age and upward, according to the house of their fathers, all those going out to the army in Israel.” 3 And Moses and Eleazar the priest proceeded to speak with them in the desert plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: 4 “[Take the sum of them] from the age of twenty years and upward, just as Jehovah had commanded Moses.”

Now the sons of Israel who went out of the land of Egypt were: 5 Reuben, Israel’s firstborn; Reuben’s sons: Of Hanoch the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu the family of the Palluites; 6 of Hezron the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi the family of the Carmites. 7 These were the families of the Reubenites, and their registered ones amounted to forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.

8 And the son of Pallu was Eliab. 9 And the sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. This Dathan and Abiram were summoned ones of the assembly, who engaged in a struggle against Moses and Aaron in the assembly of Korah, when they engaged in a struggle against Jehovah.

10 Then the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up. As for Korah, [he died] at the death of the assembly when the fire consumed two hundred and fifty men. And they came to be a symbol. 11 However, the sons of Korah did not die.

12 The sons of Simeon by their families: Of Nemuel the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin the family of the Jachinites; 13 of Zerah the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul the family of the Shaulites. 14 These were the families of the Simeonites: twenty-two thousand two hundred.

15 The sons of Gad by their families: Of Zephon the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi the family of the Haggites; of Shuni the family of the Shunites; 16 of Ozni the family of the Oznites; of Eri the family of the Erites; 17 of Arod the family of the Arodites; of Areli the family of the Arelites. 18 These were the families of the sons of Gad, of their registered ones: forty thousand five hundred.

19 The sons of Judah were Er and Onan. However, Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20 And the sons of Judah came to be, by their families: Of Shelah the family of the Shelanites; of Perez the family of the Perezites; of Zerah the family of the Zerahites. 21 And the sons of Perez came to be: Of Hezron the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul the family of the Hamulites. 22 These were the families of Judah, of their registered ones: seventy-six thousand five hundred.

23 The sons of Issachar by their families were: Of Tola the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah the family of the Punites; 24 of Jashub the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron the family of the Shimronites. 25 These were the families of Issachar, of their registered ones: sixty-four thousand three hundred.

26 The sons of Zebulun by their families were: Of Sered the family of the Seredites; of Elon the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel the family of the Jahleelites. 27 These were the families of the Zebulunites, of their registered ones: sixty thousand five hundred.

28 The sons of Joseph by their families were Manasseh and Ephraim. 29 The sons of Manasseh were: Of Machir the family of the Machirites. And Machir became father to Gilead. Of Gilead the family of the Gileadites. 30 These were the sons of Gilead: Of Iezer the family of the Iezerites; of Helek the family of the Helekites; 31 of Asriel the family of the Asrielites; of Shechem the family of the Shechemites; 32 of Shemida the family of the Shemidaites; of Hepher the family of the Hepherites. 33 Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher proved to have no sons, but daughters, and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 34 These were the families of Manasseh, and their registered ones were fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

35 These were the sons of Ephraim by their families: Of Shuthelah the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher the family of the Becherites; of Tahan the family of the Tahanites. 36 And these were the sons of Shuthelah: Of Eran the family of the Eranites. 37 These were the families of the sons of Ephraim, of their registered ones: thirty-two thousand five hundred. These were the sons of Joseph by their families.

38 The sons of Benjamin by their families were: Of Bela the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram the family of the Ahiramites; 39 of Shephupham the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham the family of the Huphamites. 40 The sons of Bela came to be Ard and Naaman: [Of Ard] the family of the Ardites; of Naaman the family of the Naamites. 41 These were the sons of Benjamin by their families, and their registered ones were forty-five thousand six hundred.

42 These were the sons of Dan by their families: Of Shuham the family of the Shuhamites. These were the families of Dan by their families. 43 All the families of the Shuhamites, of their registered ones, were sixty-four thousand four hundred.

44 The sons of Asher by their families were: Of Imnah the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah the family of the Beriites; 45 of the sons of Beriah: Of Heber the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel the family of the Malchielites. 46 And the name of Asher’s daughter was Serah. 47 These were the families of the sons of Asher, of their registered ones: fifty-three thousand four hundred.

48 The sons of Naphtali by their families were: Of Jahzeel the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni the family of the Gunites; 49 of Jezer the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem the family of the Shillemites. 50 These were the families of Naphtali by their families, and their registered ones were forty-five thousand four hundred.

51 These were the registered ones of the sons of Israel: six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.

52 After that Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying: 53 “To these the land should be apportioned for an inheritance by the number of the names. 54 According to the great number you should increase one’s inheritance, and according to the fewness you should reduce one’s inheritance. Each one’s inheritance should be given in proportion to his registered ones. 55 Only by the lot should the land be apportioned. According to the names of the tribes of their fathers they should get an inheritance. 56 By the determination of the lot one’s inheritance should be apportioned between the many and the few.”

57 Now these were the registered ones of the Levites by 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 were the families of the Levites: 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.

And Kohath became father to Amram. 59 And the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, Levi’s daughter, whom his wife bore to Levi in Egypt. In time she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and Miriam their sister. 60 Then there were born to Aaron Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu died for their presenting illegitimate fire before Jehovah.

62 And their registered ones amounted to twenty-three thousand, all males from a month old and upward. For they did not get registered in among the sons of Israel, because no inheritance was to be given to them in among the sons of Israel.

63 These were the ones registered by Moses and Eleazar the priest when they registered the sons of Israel in the desert plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64 But among these there did not prove to be a man of those registered by Moses and Aaron the priest when they registered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65 For Jehovah had said concerning them: “They will die without fail in the wilderness.” So there was not left of them a man except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

27 Then the 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 were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah. 2 And they proceeded to stand before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chieftains and all the assembly at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying: 3 “Our father has died in the wilderness, and yet he did not prove to be in among the assembly, that is, those who ranged themselves against Jehovah in the assembly of Korah, but for his own sin he has died; and he did not get to have any sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from the midst of his family because he had no son? O give us a possession in the midst of our father’s brothers.” 5 At that Moses presented their case before Jehovah.

6 Jehovah then said this to Moses: 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad are speaking right. By all means you should give them the possession of an inheritance in the midst of their father’s brothers, and you must cause their father’s inheritance to pass to them. 8 And to the sons of Israel you should speak, saying, ‘In case any man should die without his having a son, YOU must then cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, YOU must then give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, YOU must then give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, YOU must then give his inheritance to his blood relation who is closest to him of his family, and he must take possession of it. And it must serve as a statute by judicial decision for the sons of Israel, just as Jehovah has commanded Moses.’”

12 Subsequently Jehovah said to Moses: “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I shall certainly give the sons of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, then you must be gathered to your people, yes, you, just as Aaron your brother was gathered, 14 inasmuch as YOU men rebelled against my order in the wilderness of Zin at the quarreling of the assembly, in relation to sanctifying me by the waters before their eyes. These are the waters of Meribah at Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

15 Then Moses spoke to Jehovah, saying: 16 “Let Jehovah the God of the spirits of all sorts of flesh appoint over the assembly a man 17 who will go out before them and who will come in before them and who will bring them out and who will bring them in, that Jehovah’s assembly may not become like sheep that have no shepherd.” 18 So Jehovah said to Moses: “Take for yourself Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom there is spirit, and you must lay your hand upon him; 19 and you must stand him before Eleazar the priest and before all the assembly, and you must commission him before their eyes. 20 And you must put some of your dignity upon him, in order that all the assembly of the sons of Israel may listen to him. 21 And it is before Eleazar the priest that he will stand, and he must inquire in his behalf by the judgment of the Urim before Jehovah. At his order they will go out and at his order they will come in, he and all the sons of Israel with him and all the assembly.”

22 And Moses proceeded to do just as Jehovah had commanded him. Accordingly he took Joshua and stood him before Eleazar the priest and before all the assembly 23 and laid his hands upon him and commissioned him, just as Jehovah had spoken by means of Moses.