Numbers 36

1 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.

The heads of the fathers’ households of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the princes, the heads of the fathers’ households of the children of Israel.

2 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.

They said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel. My lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.

3 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.

If they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.

4 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.”

When the jubilee of the children of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall belong. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”

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

Moses commanded the children of Israel according to Yahweh’s word, saying, “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speak what is right.

6 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.

This is the thing which Yahweh commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘Let them be married to whom they think best, only they shall marry into the family of the tribe of their father.

7 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.

So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel move from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall all keep the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

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.

Every daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may each possess the inheritance of his fathers.

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

So shall no inheritance move from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall each keep his own inheritance.’”

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

The daughters of Zelophehad did as Yahweh commanded Moses:

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

for Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father’s brothers’ sons.

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

They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph. Their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.

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

These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.