Then, when the Jubilee Year of the Israelis comes, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they have come to belong. Their inheritance will thus be taken away from the inheritance of our father's tribe!"

This is what the LORD is commanding the daughters of Zelophehad: If they decide it's a good idea in their opinion to get married only within the family of their father's tribe, then let them get married

Every daughter who is in possession of an inheritance from the Israelis is to marry someone from the families within her father's tribe so the Israelis can retain possession of their ancestral inheritance.

That way, their inheritance won't be turned over from one tribe to another, because the Israelis are each to maintain their ancestral inheritances."

for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah: Zelophehad's daughters married their uncle's sons.

They married into families of the descendants of Manasseh, that is, Joseph's descendants, so that their inheritance remained within the tribe of their ancestor's family.

These were the commands and the ordinances that the LORD issued to the Israelis through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan River in Jericho.

Look! I've given you the land that lies ahead. Go in and possess the land that I, the LORD, promised to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as well as to their descendants.'"

"Then we set out from Horeb and walked through that vast and dreadful desert, where you observed the road to the Amorite hill country. Just as the LORD our God ordained for us, we finally arrived at Kadesh-barnea.

"Then all of you approached me and said: "Let's send out men in advance of us so they can survey the land and bring back a report to us on how we'll go up to their cities.'

Where can we go? Our brothers discouraged us when they said that the people are bigger and taller than we are. Their cities are tall and fortified to the sky, and we also saw the Anakim there.'

However, Nun's son Joshua, your assistant, will go there. Encourage him, for he will cause Israel to take possession of it.

"Then the LORD told me: "Tell them not to go up and fight because I will not be in their midst, or else you will be defeated before your enemies.'

and command this people, "You are about to pass through the territory of your relatives, the descendants of Esau who live around Seir. They will be afraid of you so be very careful.

Don't fight them, because I won't give you any part of their land, not even the size of a footprint. I have given Mount Seir to Esau as their property.

Indeed, the LORD your God blessed all the works of your hands. He knows about your travels through this vast desert. The LORD your God was with you these past 40 years, so that you didn't lack anything.

So we bypassed our relatives, the descendants of Esau who live in Seir. We turned through the Arabah desert from Elath, and from Ezion-geber we traveled the desert road to Moab."

"Then the LORD told me, "Don't harass Moab or provoke them to war, because I won't give you any part of their land. I have given Ar to the descendants of Lot as their property.

(The Emites, a people as powerful, numerous, and tall as the Anakim, lived there before.

The Horites used to live in Seir before the descendants of Esau dispossessed them, exterminated them, and settled there instead, just as Israel will do in the land of its possession, which the LORD gave them.)

When you come to the Ammonites, don't harass or provoke them to war, for I won't give any part of Ammonite land to you, since I have given it to the descendants of Lot as their property.

""(Indeed, it was considered Rephaim territory, since the Rephaim used to lived there. The Ammonites called them Zamzummites,

a great people, numerous, and tall as the Anakim. But the LORD destroyed the Rephaim, so that the Ammonites dispossessed them and settled there instead.

This is what he did for the descendants of Esau who live in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites before them. So they dispossessed them and settled there in their place, where they live to this day.

It was the same for the Avvites who lived in villages as far as Gaza. The Caphtorites, who came from Crete, destroyed them and settled there in their place.)

"Let me pass through your territory. I'll stay on the main road. I won't turn to the right or left.

Sell me food for cash, so I can eat and give me water for cash, so I can drink. Just let me pass through on foot,

as the descendants of Esau who live in Seir did for me, as did the Moabites who live in Ar. I'll pass through, until I will have crossed the Jordan into the land that the LORD our God is about to give us.'

But King Sihon of Heshbon did not allow us to pass through, because the LORD your God had hardened his spirit and made him arrogant, in order to deliver him into your control today.

From Aroer on the edge of Arnon Valley and from the town all the way to Gilead, there was no city that was too strong for us the LORD our God delivered them all to us.

"So the LORD our God also delivered into our control King Og of Bashan, along with his whole army. We attacked him until there were no survivors.

Then we captured all his cities at that time. There was not a city left that we didn't capture from them 60 cities in all from the region of Argob, which is part of the kingdom of Og in Bashan.

All of these cities were fortified with high walls, gates, and bars. Furthermore, there were very many unwalled regions.

The day you stood in the presence of the LORD your God in Horeb, the LORD told me, "Gather the people before me so they may hear my words, learn to revere me the whole time that they live in the land, and teach them to their children.'"

the LORD your God spoke from the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of words, but you saw no form; there was only a voice.

"After you've borne children and grandchildren, have been there for a long time in the land, have become so corrupted that you make images of any form, and have done evil in the eyes of the LORD your God, you will provoke him to anger.

There you'll serve gods made by human hands, serving trees and stones that cannot see, hear, eat, nor smell.

If from there you will seek the LORD your God, then you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and soul.

"You have been shown this in order to know that "the LORD is God' and there is no one like him.

Moreover, he loved your ancestors, chose their descendants after them, and brought you out of Egypt, accompanied by his presence and great power,

in order to drive out nations that are stronger and more powerful than you, to bring you into this land, and to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is today.

"May you acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in the heavens above and over the earth below there is no other God.

Then Moses designated three cities on the east side of the Jordan,

You are to remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, but the LORD your God brought you out from there with great power and a show of force. Therefore, the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

If only they would commit to fear me and keep all my commands, then it will go well with them and their children forever.

Go and tell them to return to their tents,

But as for us, he brought us out from there to bring us into the land and give it to us, as he promised our ancestors.

You are not to intermarry with them. You are not to give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons,

This is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire,

You'll be blessed among all the nations. There'll be no infertility among you, not even among your herds.

You are to utterly destroy everyone whom the LORD your God will deliver to you. Don't have pity on them nor serve their gods. Otherwise, they will become a snare for you."

Burn the images of their gods in the fire. Desire neither the silver nor the gold that adorns them, nor take them for yourselves, so you won't be ensnared by them, because the gold and silver is detestable to the LORD your God.

who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery, and who led you through the vast and dangerous desert, that parched land without water, with its poisonous snakes and scorpions. He brought water out of solid rock for you,

"Then the LORD told me, "Get going! Go down from here at once! Your people whom you brought out of Egypt have become corrupt. They have turned quickly from the way that I commanded them, and have cast an idol for their use.'

Let me alone! I will destroy them and blot out their name under heaven. Then I'll make you into a nation that will be mighty and more numerous than they are.'

So I grabbed the two tablets and then threw them out of my hands, breaking them before your eyes.

Now, when you made the calf that made you sin, I grabbed it, burned it with fire, crushed it, and ground it thoroughly until it was pulverized to powder. Then I threw the powder into the river that was flowing from the mountain."

Then I turned, went down the mountain, and placed the tablets in the chest that I had made. They are there now, just as the LORD commanded me."

"The Israelis traveled from the wells of the descendants of Jaakan to Moserah. Aaron died, and he was buried there. His son Eleazar succeeded him as priest.

From there they moved on to Gudgodah and from Gudgodah to Jotbathah, a land with flowing streams.

That is why the descendants of Levi do not have a portion and an inheritance among their relatives. As for the LORD, he is their inheritance, just as the LORD your God told them.

So the LORD told me, "Get up and proceed to lead the people, so they may enter and take possession of the land that I promised to give their ancestors by an oath.'"

yet the LORD committed himself to love your ancestors and did so! He chose you their descendants after them from all the nations, as it is today.

and what he did to Eliab's sons Dathan and Abiram, descendants of Reuben, when the ground opened up and swallowed them, their households, their tents, and every living thing belonging to them in the full sight of Israel.

and so you'll live long in the land that the LORD your God promised by an oath to give your ancestors and their descendants, a land flowing with milk and honey.

Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree.

Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place."

Instead, you must seek to enter only the place that the LORD your God will choose among your tribes. There he will establish his name and live.

Bring your burnt offerings there, along with your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, your offerings in fulfillment of promises, your freely given offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks.

"Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your city for there is no territorial allotment for him as you have.

instead of at the place the LORD will choose in one of the tribal areas. There you may offer burnt offerings, and there you may do everything that I'm commanding you."

"When the LORD your God eliminates the nations that you are about to dispossess so you can live in their land,

after they have been destroyed in your sight, be careful not to be ensnared as they were. Otherwise, you will seek their gods and ask yourselves, "How do these nations serve their gods? I will do likewise.'

You must not do the same to the LORD your God, because they practiced in the presence of their gods every sort of abomination that the LORD hates. Moreover, they sacrificed their sons and daughters to their gods.

However, you must not eat these animals that chew the cud or have a divided hoof: the camel, hare, and rock badger. Even though they chew the cud, their hooves are not divided. Therefore they are unclean for you.

And also the pig, because even though its hoof is divided, it does not chew the cud. It is therefore unclean for you. You must not eat their meat or even touch their carcasses.

You may spend the money to your heart's content to buy livestock, flocks, wine, strong drink, and whatever you desire. You and your household may eat there and rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God."

"But you must not forget the descendant of Levi in your town because there is no tribal allotment for him as there is for you.

Moreover, there will be no poor person among you, for the LORD will surely bless you in the land that he is about to give you to possess.

"If there should be a poor man among your relatives in one of the cities of the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor relative.

then take an awl and pierce through his earlobe into the door. Then he will be your slave forever. You are to do the same for your female slaves.

"Every male must appear in the presence of the LORD your God three times a year at the place where he will choose: for the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Festival of Seven Weeks, and the Festival of Tents. He must not appear in the LORD's presence empty-handed,

Based on the testimony of two or three witnesses, they must surely die. But they are not to die based on the testimony of one person.

carry out the verdict that was declared to you at the place that the LORD will choose. Carefully observe all of their instructions to you

If a man presumptuously disregards the priest who is serving the LORD your God there or the judge, that person must die so you will purge evil from Israel.

"The Levitical priests the whole tribe of Levi will not have a portion or an inheritance within Israel. Instead, they will eat the burnt offerings of the LORD, because that is their inheritance.

But they will not have an inheritance among their relatives, because the LORD alone is their inheritance as he promised them."

For the LORD your God has chosen them and their descendants from among your tribes to stand and serve in the name of the LORD all their lives."

There he may serve in the name of the LORD his God. Like his fellow descendants of Levi who stand there in the LORD's presence,

"When you enter the land that the LORD your God is about to give you, don't learn the detestable practices of those nations there.

There must never be found among you anyone who sacrifices his son or daughter in fire, practices divination, interprets omens, practices sorcery,

I will raise up a prophet like you from among their relatives, and I will place my words in his mouth so that he may expound everything that I have commanded to them.

"When the LORD your God destroys those nations whose lands he is about to give you, you must dispossess them and live in their cities and houses.

You must reserve three cities within the land that the LORD your God is about to give you to possess.

Build roads throughout the land that the LORD your God is providing as an inheritance, and then divide it into three districts so that any killer may flee there.

"Now this is the situation for any killer who flees there to live: suppose he strikes his friend unwittingly, not having hated him previously.

Since hile the distance may be great, the angry avenger may overtake the killer he is pursuing and kill him, in which case there will be no justice in his death, because he did not hate his friend previously.

Therefore I am commanding you to reserve three cities."

and if you are careful to observe all these commands that I am commanding you today to love the LORD your God and to walk daily in his ways then add three more cities in addition to these three cities.

then the elders of his own city shall send for him, remove him from there, and deliver him to the related avenger for execution.