Chronological Plan

¹Then it happened after the plague that the LORD said to Moses and Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest,

²"Take a census of all the [males in the] congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers' households, all in Israel who are able to go to war."

³So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with the people in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,

⁴"A census of the people shall be taken from twenty years old and upward, just as the LORD has commanded Moses." Now the Israelites who came out of the land of Egypt were:

⁵Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (Jacob), the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites;

⁶of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites.

⁷These are the families (clans) of the Reubenites; and those who were numbered of them were 43,730.

⁸The son of Pallu: Eliab.

⁹The sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD,

¹⁰and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured two hundred and fifty men, so that they became a [warning] sign.

¹¹But Korah's sons did not die [because they did not participate in the rebellion].

¹²The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites;

¹³of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites.

¹⁴These are the families (clans) of the Simeonites, 22,200.

¹⁵The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites;

¹⁶of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites;

¹⁷of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites.

¹⁸These are the families (clans) of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered, 40,500.

¹⁹The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan [were judged by God and] died in the land of Canaan.

²⁰The sons of Judah according to their families: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites.

²¹The sons of Perez: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites.

²²These are the families (clans) of Judah according to those who were numbered, 76,500.

²³The sons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites;

²⁴of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites.

²⁵These are the families (clans) of Issachar according to those who were numbered, 64,300.

²⁶The sons of Zebulun according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites.

²⁷These are the families (clans) of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered, 60,500.

²⁸The sons of Joseph according to their families were Manasseh and Ephraim.

²⁹The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir was the father of Gilead; of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites.

³⁰These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites;

³¹of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites;

³²of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites.

³³Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters, and the names of Zelophehad's daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

³⁴These are the families (clans) of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

³⁵These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites.

³⁶And these are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites.

³⁷These are the families (clans) of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered, 32,500. These are the descendants of Joseph according to their families (clans).

³⁸The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites;

³⁹of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites.

⁴⁰The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites.

⁴¹These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans); and those who were numbered, 45,600.

⁴²These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families.

⁴³All the families (clans) of the Shuhamites according to those who were numbered, 64,400.

⁴⁴Of the sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites.

⁴⁵Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites.

⁴⁶And the name of the daughter of Asher was Serah.

⁴⁷These are the families (clans) of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered, 53,400.

⁴⁸Of the sons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites;

⁴⁹of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites.

⁵⁰These are the families (clans) of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.

⁵¹This was the [total] number of the [male] Israelites, 601,730 [twenty years old and upward who were able to go to war].

⁵²And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

⁵³"Among these the land shall be divided as an inheritance according to the number of names.

⁵⁴To the larger tribe you shall give the larger inheritance, and to the smaller tribe the smaller inheritance; each tribe shall be given its inheritance according to its numbers.

⁵⁵But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers (tribal ancestors).

⁵⁶According to the [location selected by] lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller [groups]."

⁵⁷These 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.

⁵⁸These 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. And Kohath was the father of Amram.

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

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

⁶¹But Nadab and Abihu died [in the presence of God] when they offered [in their ceremonial censers] strange [unholy, unacceptable, unauthorized] fire before the LORD.

⁶²Those numbered of the Levites were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward; for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel, since no inheritance [of land] was given to them among the Israelites.

⁶³These are those numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the second time] in the plains of Moab by the Jordan [River] at Jericho.

⁶⁴But among these there was not a man [left] of those numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel [for the first time] in the Wilderness of Sinai.

⁶⁵For the LORD had said of them, "They shall certainly die in the wilderness." And not a man was left of them except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

¹Then the [five] daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the tribes of Manasseh [who was] the son of Joseph, approached [with a request]. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

²They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and all the congregation at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle), saying,

³"Our father died in the wilderness. He was not among those who assembled together against the LORD in the company of Korah, but he died for his own sin [as did all those who rebelled at Kadesh], and he had no sons.

⁴Why should the name of our father be removed from his family because he had no son? Give to us a possession (land) among our father's brothers."

⁵So Moses brought their case before the LORD.

⁶Then the LORD said to Moses,

⁷"The request of the daughters of Zelophehad is justified. You shall certainly give them a possession as an inheritance among their father's brothers, and you shall transfer their father's inheritance to them.

⁸Further, you shall say to the Israelites, 'If a man dies and has no son, you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter.

⁹If a man has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers.

¹⁰If a man has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father's brothers.

¹¹If his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his nearest relative in his own family, and he shall take possession of it. It shall be a statute and ordinance to the Israelites, just as the LORD has commanded Moses.'"

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go up to this mountain (Nebo) [in the] Abarim [range] and look at the land I have given to the sons of Israel.

¹³When you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people [in death], just as Aaron your brother was gathered;

¹⁴because in the Wilderness of Zin, during the strife of the congregation, you rebelled against My command to treat me as holy [by following My instruction] before their eyes at the water." (These are the waters of Meribah in Kadesh in the Wilderness of Zin.)

¹⁵Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying,

¹⁶" Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation

¹⁷who will go out and come in before them, and will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be as sheep without a shepherd."

¹⁸The LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him;

¹⁹and have him stand before Eleazar the priest and before the whole congregation, and give him a commission in their sight.

²⁰You shall put some of your authority and honor on him, so that all the congregation of the Israelites will obey him.

²¹He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment (decision) of the Urim. At Joshua's command the people shall go out and at his command they shall come in, he and all the congregation of Israel with him."

²²Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He took Joshua and had him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation,

²³and Moses laid his hands on Joshua and commissioned him, just as the LORD had commanded through Moses.