Meditate

36. Inheritance of Zelophelhad's Daughters

Marriage of Female Heirs

36

The heads of the ancestral houses of the clans of the descendants of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, of the Josephite clans, came forward and spoke in the presence of Moses and the leaders, the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelites;²they said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.³But if they are married into another Israelite tribe, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our ancestors and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry; so it will be taken away from the allotted portion of our inheritance.⁴And when the jubilee of the Israelites comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they have married; and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”

⁵ Then Moses commanded the Israelites according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The descendants of the tribe of Joseph are right in what they are saying.⁶This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, ‘Let them marry whom they think best; only it must be into a clan of their father’s tribe that they are married,⁷so that no inheritance of the Israelites shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for all Israelites shall retain the inheritance of their ancestral tribes.⁸Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the Israelites shall marry one from the clan of her father’s tribe, so that all Israelites may continue to possess their ancestral inheritance.⁹No inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another; for each of the tribes of the Israelites shall retain its own inheritance.’ ”

¹⁰ The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord had commanded Moses.¹¹Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married sons of their father’s brothers.¹²They were married into the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.

¹³ These are the commandments and the ordinances that the Lord commanded through Moses to the Israelites in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.

21. Paul Arrives in Jerusalem

Paul Arrested in the Temple

²⁷ When the seven days were almost completed, the Jews from Asia, who had seen him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd. They seized him,²⁸shouting, “Fellow Israelites, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against our people, our law, and this place; more than that, he has actually brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”²⁹For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.³⁰Then all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together. They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.³¹While they were trying to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.³²Immediately he took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. When they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.³³Then the tribune came, arrested him, and ordered him to be bound with two chains; he inquired who he was and what he had done.³⁴Some in the crowd shouted one thing, some another; and as he could not learn the facts because of the uproar, he ordered him to be brought into the barracks.³⁵When Paul came to the steps, the violence of the mob was so great that he had to be carried by the soldiers.³⁶The crowd that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!”

Related Hymns

• Tidings from over the Jordan

69. Psalm 69

Psalm 69

Prayer for Deliverance from Persecution

To the leader: according to Lilies. Of David.

1

Save me, O God,

for the waters have come up to my neck.

2

I sink in deep mire,

where there is no foothold;

I have come into deep waters,

and the flood sweeps over me.

3

I am weary with my crying;

my throat is parched.

My eyes grow dim

with waiting for my God.

4

More in number than the hairs of my head

are those who hate me without cause;

many are those who would destroy me,

my enemies who accuse me falsely.

What I did not steal

must I now restore?

5

O God, you know my folly;

the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.

6

Do not let those who hope in you be put to shame because of me,

O Lord God of hosts;

do not let those who seek you be dishonored because of me,

O God of Israel.

7

It is for your sake that I have borne reproach,

that shame has covered my face.

8

I have become a stranger to my kindred,

an alien to my mother’s children.

9

It is zeal for your house that has consumed me;

the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

10

When I humbled my soul with fasting,

they insulted me for doing so.

11

When I made sackcloth my clothing,

I became a byword to them.

12

I am the subject of gossip for those who sit in the gate,

and the drunkards make songs about me.

13

But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord.

At an acceptable time, O God,

in the abundance of your steadfast love, answer me.

With your faithful help¹⁴rescue me

from sinking in the mire;

let me be delivered from my enemies

and from the deep waters.

15

Do not let the flood sweep over me,

or the deep swallow me up,

or the Pit close its mouth over me.

16

Answer me, O Lord, for your steadfast love is good;

according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

17

Do not hide your face from your servant,

for I am in distress—make haste to answer me.

18

Draw near to me, redeem me,

set me free because of my enemies.

Related Hymns

• Good To Me
• If You Love Me
• Lord, Why Have You Forsaken Me