The Wilderness Years

And the heads of the fathers of the families of the sons of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, come near, and speak before Moses, and before the princes, heads of the fathers of the sons of Israel,

and say, Jehovah commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the sons of Israel, and my lord hath been commanded by Jehovah to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

`And--they have been to one of the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel for wives, and their inheritance hath been withdrawn from the inheritance of our fathers, and hath been added to the inheritance of the tribe which is theirs, and from the lot of our inheritance it is withdrawn,

and if it is the jubilee of the sons of Israel, then hath their inheritance been added to the inheritance of the tribe which is theirs, and from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers is their inheritance withdrawn.'

And Moses commandeth the sons of Israel, by the command of Jehovah, saying, `Rightly are the tribe of the sons of Joseph speaking;

this is the thing which Jehovah hath commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, To those good in their eyes let them be for wives; only, to a family of the tribe of their fathers let them be for wives;

and the inheritance of the sons of Israel doth not turn round from tribe unto tribe; for each to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers, do the sons of Israel cleave.

`And every daughter possessing an inheritance, of the tribes of the sons of Israel, is to one of the family of the tribe of her father for a wife, so that the sons of Israel possess each the inheritance of his fathers,

and the inheritance doth not turn round from one tribe to another tribe; for each to his inheritance do they cleave, the tribes of the sons of Israel.'

As Jehovah hath commanded Moses, so have the daughters of Zelophehad done,

and Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, daughters of Zelophehad, are to the sons of their fathers' brethren for wives;

to men of the families of the sons of Manasseh, son of Joseph, they have been for wives, and their inheritance is with the tribe of the family of their father.

These are the commands and the judgments which Jehovah hath commanded, by the hand of Moses, concerning the sons of Israel, in the plains of Moab, by Jordan, near Jericho.

These are the words which Moses hath spoken unto all Israel, beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the plain over-against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-Zahab;

eleven days' from Horeb, the way of mount Seir, unto Kadesh-Barnea.

And it cometh to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month hath Moses spoken unto the sons of Israel according to all that Jehovah hath commanded him concerning them;

after his smiting Sihon king of the Amorite who is dwelling in Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan who is dwelling in Ashtaroth in Edrei,

beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, hath Moses begun to explain this law, saying:

`Jehovah our God hath spoken unto us in Horeb, saying, Enough to you--of dwelling in this mount;

turn ye and journey for you, and enter the mount of the Amorite, and unto all its neighbouring places, in the plain, in the hill-country, and in the low country, and in the south, and in the haven of the sea, the land of the Canaanite, and of Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Phrat;

see, I have set before you the land; go in and possess the land which Jehovah hath sworn to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them, and to their seed after them.

`And I speak unto you at that time, saying, I am not able by myself to bear you;

Jehovah your God hath multiplied you, and lo, ye are to-day as the stars of the heavens for multitude;

Jehovah, God of your fathers, is adding to you, as ye are , a thousand times, and doth bless you as He hath spoken to you.

`How do I bear by myself your pressure, and your burden, and your strife?