Numbers 36

1 And the heads of the tribe of the sons of Galaad the son of Machir the son of Manasse, of the tribe of the sons of Joseph, drew near, and spoke before Moses, and before Eleazar the priest, and before the heads of the houses of the families of the children of Israel:

The family heads of the descendants of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, one of the tribes of Joseph, came and spoke before Moses and the Israelite leaders, the heads of families.

2 and they said, The Lord commanded our lord to render the land of inheritance by lot to the children of Israel; and the Lord appointed our lord to give the inheritance of Salpaad our brother to his daughters.

They said, “When the Lord ordered you, my lord, to allocate land ownership to the Israelites by lot, he also ordered you to give our brother Zelophehad's share to his daughters.

3 And they will become wives in one of the tribes of the children of Israel; so their inheritance shall be taken away from the possession of our fathers, and shall be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which the women shall marry, and shall be taken away from the portion of our inheritance.

However, if they marry men from the other tribes of Israel, their allocation would be taken away our fathers' share and added to the tribe of the men they marry. That part of our allocation would be lost to us.

4 And if there shall be a release of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which the women marry, and their inheritance, shall be taken away from the inheritance of our family's tribe.

So when the Jubilee for the Israelites comes around, their allocation would be added to the tribe into which they marry, and taken away from our fathers' tribe.”

5 And Moses charged the children of Israel by the commandment of the Lord, saying, Thus says the tribe of the children of Joseph.

Following what the Lord told him, Moses gave these orders to the Israelites, “What the tribe of the sons of Joseph says is right.

6 This [is] the thing which the Lord has appointed the daughters of Salpaad, saying, Let them marry where they please, only let them marry [men] of their father's tribe.

This is what the Lord has ordered in regard to Zelophehad's daughters: They can marry anyone they want as long as they marry within a family that belongs to their father's tribe.

7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel go about from tribe to tribe, for the children of Israel shall steadfastly continue each in the inheritance of his family's tribe.

No land allocation in Israel may be passed from tribe to tribe, because every Israelite is to hold onto the allocation of his father's tribe.

8 And whatever daughter is heiress to a property of the tribes of the children Israel, [such] women shall be married each to one of her father's tribe, that the sons of Israel may each inherit the property of his father's tribe.

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.

9 And the inheritance shall not go about from one tribe to another, but the children of Israel shall steadfastly continue each in his own inheritance.

No land allocation may be passed from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe must hold onto its own allocation.”

10 As the Lord commanded Moses, so did they to the daughters of Salpaad.

Zelophehad's daughters followed the Lord's orders through Moses.

11 So Thersa, and Egla, and Melcha, and Nua, and Malaa, the daughters of Salpaad, married their cousins;

Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad's daughters, married cousins on their father's side.

12 they were married [to men] of the tribe of Manasse of the sons of Joseph; and their inheritance was attached to the tribe of their father's family.

They married within the families of the descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph, and their land allocation stayed within their father's tribe.

13 These [are] the commandments, and the ordinances, and the judgements, which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, at the west of Moab, at Jordan by Jericho.

These are the orders and regulations that the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan opposite Jericho.