Immerse: Beginnings Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 280
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IMMERSE
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BEGINNINGS
35:26–36:11
“But if the slayer ever leaves the limits of the city of refuge, and the
avenger finds him outside the city and kills him, it will not be considered
murder. The slayer should have stayed inside the city of refuge until the
death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest, the slayer
may return to his own property. These are legal requirements for you to
observe from generation to generation, wherever you may live.
“All murderers must be put to death, but only if evidence is presented by
more than one witness. No one may be put to death on the testimony of
only one witness. Also, you must never accept a ransom payment for the
life of someone judged guilty of murder and subject to execution; murderers must always be put to death. And never accept a ransom payment from
someone who has fled to a city of refuge, allowing a slayer to return to his
property before the death of the high priest. This will ensure that the land
where you live will not be polluted, for murder pollutes the land. And no
sacrifice except the execution of the murderer can purify the land from
murder. You must not defile the land where you live, for I live there myself.
I am the Lord, who lives among the people of Israel.”
Then the heads of the clans of G
ilead—descendants of Makir, son of
Manasseh, son of Joseph—came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel
with a petition. They said, “Sir, the Lord instructed you to divide the land
by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the Lord to give
the grant of land owned by our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. But if
they marry men from another tribe, their grants of land will go with them
to the tribe into which they marry. In this way, the total area of our tribal
land will be reduced. Then when the Year of Jubilee comes, their portion
of land will be added to that of the new tribe, causing it to be lost forever
to our ancestral tribe.”
So Moses gave the Israelites this command from the Lord: “The claim
of the men of the tribe of Joseph is legitimate. This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: Let them marry anyone
they like, as long as it is within their own ancestral tribe. None of the territorial land may pass from tribe to tribe, for all the land given to each tribe
must remain within the tribe to which it was first allotted. The daughters
throughout the tribes of Israel who are in line to inherit property must
marry within their tribe, so that all the Israelites will keep their ancestral
property. No grant of land may pass from one tribe to another; each tribe
of Israel must keep its allotted portion of land.”
The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses.
Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah all married cousins on their
