Numbers 27:12–22

¹²Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go up this mountain of the Abarim range^a and see the land that I have given the Israelites. ¹³After you have seen it, you too will be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was; ¹⁴for when the congregation contended in the Wilderness of Zin, both of you rebelled against My command to show My holiness in their sight regarding the waters.” Those were the waters of Meribah^b in Kadesh, in the Wilderness of Zin.

¹⁵So Moses appealed to the LORD, ¹⁶“May 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 who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”

¹⁸And the LORD replied to Moses, “Take Joshua son of Nun, a man with the Spirit in him, and lay your hands on him. ¹⁹Have him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, and commission him in their sight. ²⁰Confer on him some of your authority, so that the whole congregation of Israel will obey him. ²¹He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who will seek counsel for him before the LORD by the judgment of the Urim.^c At his command, he and all the Israelites with him— the entire congregation— will go out and come in.”

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