Numbers 25-27
New International Reader's Version
Moab Leads Israel Astray
25 Israel was staying in Shittim. The men of Israel began to commit sexual sins with the women of Moab. 2 The women invited the men to feasts and sacrifices to honor their gods. The people ate the sacrifices and bowed down in front of the statues of those gods. 3 So Israel joined in worshiping the god named Baal that was worshiped at Peor. The Lord became very angry with Israel.
4 The Lord said to Moses, “Take all the leaders of these people. Kill them. Put their dead bodies out in the open. I want to see you do it in the middle of the day. Then I will not be angry with Israel.”
5 So Moses spoke to Israel’s judges. He said, “Some of your people have joined in worshiping the god named Baal that is worshiped at Peor. Each of you must kill the people in your tribe who have done that.”
6 Then an Israelite man brought into the camp a Midianite woman. He did it right in front of the eyes of Moses and the whole community of Israel. They were weeping at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 7 Phinehas was a priest. He was the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. When Phinehas saw what had happened, he left the people. He took a spear in his hand. 8 He followed the man into the tent. Phinehas stuck the spear through the man and into the woman’s stomach. Then the Lord stopped the plague against the Israelites. 9 But the plague had already killed 24,000 of them.
10 The Lord said to Moses, 11 “Phinehas is a priest. He is the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Phinehas has turned my anger away from the Israelites. I am committed to making sure I am honored among them. And he is as committed as I am. So even though I was angry with them, I did not put an end to them. 12 So tell Phinehas I am making my covenant with him. It is my promise to give him peace. 13 He and his sons after him will have a covenant to be priests forever. That is because he was committed to making sure that I, his God, was honored. In that way he paid for the sin of the Israelites.”
14 The name of the Israelite man who was killed was Zimri. He was the son of Salu. Zimri was killed along with the Midianite woman. Salu was a family leader in the tribe of Simeon. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was killed was Kozbi. She was the daughter of Zur. He was the chief of a Midianite family.
16 The Lord spoke to Moses. He said, 17 “Treat the Midianites just as you would treat enemies. Kill them. 18 After all, they treated you like enemies. They tricked you into worshiping the god named Baal that is worshiped at Peor. They also tricked you because of what Kozbi did. She was the woman killed when the plague came that was connected with Peor. Kozbi was the daughter of a Midianite leader.”
The Men of Israel Are Counted a Second Time
26 After the plague, the Lord spoke to Moses and Eleazar the priest. Eleazar was the son of Aaron. The Lord said, 2 “Count all the men of Israel. Make a list of them by their families. Count all the men who are able to serve in Israel’s army. They must be 20 years old or more.” 3 At that time the Israelites were on the plains of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho. Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them. They said, 4 “Count all the men 20 years old or more. Do it just as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Here are the men of Israel who came out of Egypt.
5 Reuben was Israel’s oldest son. Here are the names of his sons.
The Hanokite family came from Hanok.
The Palluite family came from Pallu.
6 The Hezronite family came from Hezron.
The Karmite family came from Karmi.
7 These were the families of Reuben. The number of men was 43,730.
8 Eliab was the son of Pallu. 9 Eliab’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. 10 The 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. 11 But the family line of Korah didn’t die out completely.
12 Here 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.
13 The Zerahite family came from Zerah.
The Shaulite family came from Shaul.
14 These were the families of Simeon. The number of the men counted was 22,200.
15 Here 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.
16 The Oznite family came from Ozni.
The Erite family came from Eri.
17 The Arodite family came from Arodi.
The Arelite family came from Areli.
18 These were the families of Gad. The number of the men counted was 40,500.
19 Er and Onan were sons of Judah. But they died in Canaan.
20 Here 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.
21 Here are the names of the sons of Perez.
The Hezronite family came from Hezron.
The Hamulite family came from Hamul.
22 These were the families of Judah. The number of the men counted was 76,500.
23 Here 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.
24 The Jashubite family came from Jashub.
The Shimronite family came from Shimron.
25 These were the families of Issachar. The number of the men counted was 64,300.
26 Here 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.
27 These were the families of Zebulun. The number of the men counted was 60,500.
28 Here are the names of Joseph’s sons. They are listed by their families. The families came from Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons of Joseph.
29 Here 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.
30 Here are the names of Gilead’s sons.
The Iezerite family came from Iezer.
The Helekite family came from Helek.
31 The Asrielite family came from Asriel.
The Shechemite family came from Shechem.
32 The Shemidaite family came from Shemida.
The Hepherite family came from Hepher.
33 Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. Zelophehad didn’t have any sons. All he had was daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah.
34 These were the families of Manasseh. The number of the men counted was 52,700.
35 Here 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.
36 The sons of Shuthelah were the Eranite family. They came from Eran.
37 These were the families of Ephraim. The number of the men counted was 32,500.
These were the sons of Joseph. They are listed by their families.
38 Here 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.
39 The Shuphamite family came from Shupham.
The Huphamite family came from Hupham.
40 Bela’s sons came from Ard and Naaman.
The Ardite family came from Ard.
The Naamite family came from Naaman.
41 These were the families of Benjamin. The number of the men counted was 45,600.
42 Here is the name of Dan’s son. He is listed by his family.
The Shuhamite family came from Shuham.
This was the family of Dan. 43 All the men in Dan’s family were Shuhamites. The number of the men counted was 64,400.
44 Here 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.
45 Here are the names of the families that came from Beriah’s sons.
The Heberite family came from Heber.
The Malkielite family came from Malkiel.
46 Asher also had a daughter named Serah.
47 These were the families of Asher. The number of the men counted was 53,400.
48 Here 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.
49 The Jezerite family came from Jezer.
The Shillemite family came from Shillem.
50 These were the families of Naphtali. The number of the men counted was 45,400.
51 The total number of the men of Israel was 601,730.
52 The Lord said to Moses, 53 “I will give the land to them. The amount of land each family receives will be based on the number of its men. 54 Give 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 listed in it.
55 “Be sure that you cast lots when you give out the land. What each family receives will be based on the number of men listed in its tribe. 56 Cast lots when you give out each share. Cast lots for the larger and smaller families alike.”
57 Here 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.
58 Here 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. 59 The 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. 60 Aaron was the father of Nadab and Abihu. He was also the father of Eleazar and Ithamar. 61 But Nadab and Abihu made an offering to the Lord by using fire that wasn’t allowed. So they died.
62 The number of male Levites 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.
63 These are the men counted by Moses and Eleazar the priest. At that time the Israelites were on the plains of Moab. They were by the Jordan River across from Jericho. 64 The men of Israel had been counted before in the Sinai Desert by Moses and Aaron the priest. But not one of them was among the men counted this time. 65 The Lord had told the Israelites at Kadesh Barnea that they would certainly die in the desert. Not one of them was left alive except Caleb and Joshua. Caleb was the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua was the son of Nun.
Zelophehad’s Daughters
27 The 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, Milkah and Tirzah. They approached 2 the entrance to the tent of meeting. There they stood in front of Moses and Eleazar the priest. 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.”
5 So Moses brought their case to the Lord. 6 The Lord said to him, 7 “What Zelophehad’s daughters are saying is right. You must certainly give them property. Give them a share among their father’s relatives. Give their father’s property to them.
8 “Say to the Israelites, ‘Suppose a man dies who doesn’t have a son. Then give his property to his daughter. 9 Suppose the man doesn’t have a daughter. Then give his property to his brothers. 10 Suppose the man doesn’t have any brothers. Then give his property to his father’s brothers. 11 Suppose 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 Israelites. It is just as the Lord commanded me.’ ”
Joshua Becomes Israel’s New Leader
12 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go up this mountain in the Abarim Range. See the land I have given the Israelites. 13 After 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 in the Desert of Zin. At that time, you and Aaron did not obey my command. You did not honor me in front of them as the holy God.”
15 Moses spoke to the Lord. He said, 16 “Lord, you are the God who gives life and breath to all living things. Please put someone in charge of this community. 17 Have that person lead them and take care of them. Then your people won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.”
18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Joshua, the son of Nun, has the ability to be a wise leader. Get him and place your hand on him. 19 Have him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the whole community. Put him in charge while everyone is watching. 20 Give him some of your authority. Then the whole community of Israel will obey him. 21 Joshua will stand in front of Eleazar the priest. Eleazar will help him make decisions. Eleazar will get help from me by using the Urim. Joshua and the whole community of Israel must not make any move at all unless I command them to.”
22 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him. He got Joshua and had him stand in front of Eleazar the priest and the whole community. 23 Then Moses placed his hands on Joshua. And he put him in charge of the people. He did just as the Lord had directed through Moses.
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