< Numbers 36 >
1 Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them,
And the princes of the families of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasses, of the stock Of the children of Joseph, came and spoke to Moses before the princes of Israel, and said:
2 saying, “When the LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance to the Israelites by lot, He also commanded him to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters.
The Lord hath commanded thee, my lord, that thou shouldst divide the land by lot to the children of Israel, and that thou shouldst give to the daughters of Salphaad our brother the possession due to their father:
3 But if they marry any of the men from the other tribes of Israel, their inheritance will be withdrawn from the portion of our fathers and added to the tribe into which they marry. So our allotted inheritance would be taken away.
Now if men of another tribe take them to wives, their possession will follow them, and being transferred to another tribe, will be a diminishing of our inheritance.
4 And when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes, their inheritance will be added to the tribe into which they marry and taken away from the tribe of our fathers.”
And so it shall come to pass, that when the jubilee, that is, the fiftieth year of remission, is come, the distribution made by the lots shall be confounded, and the possession of the one shall pass to the others.
5 So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly.
Moses answered the children of Israel, and said by the command of the Lord: The tribe of the children of Joseph hath spoken rightly.
6 This is what the LORD has commanded concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry within a clan of the tribe of their father.
And this is the law promulgated by the Lord touching the daughters of Salphaad: Let them marry to whom they will, only so that it be to men of their own tribe.
7 No inheritance in Israel may be transferred from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
Lest the possession of the children of Israel be mingled from tribe to tribe. For all men shall marry wives of their own tribe and kindred:
8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any Israelite tribe must marry within a clan of the tribe of her father, so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of his fathers.
And all women shall take husbands of the same tribe: that the inheritance may remain in the families,
9 No inheritance may be transferred from one tribe to another, for each tribe of Israel must retain its inheritance.”
And that the tribes be not mingled one with another, but remain so
10 So the daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD had commanded Moses.
As they were separated by the Lord. And the daughters of Salphaad did as was commanded:
11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to cousins on their father’s side.
And Maala, and Thersa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Noa were married to the sons of their uncle by their father,
12 They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
Of the family of Manasses, who was the son of Joseph: and the possession that had been allotted to them, remained in the tribe and family of their father.
13 These are the commandments and ordinances that the LORD gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
These are the commandments and judgments, which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to the children of Israel, in the plains of Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho.