Numbers 36

1 Then the chiefe fathers of the familie of the sonnes of Gilead, the sonne of Machir, the sonne of Manasseh, of the families of the sones of Ioseph, came, and spake before Moses, and before the princes, the chiefe fathers of the children of Israel,

Then the leaders of the families of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, from the stock of the sons of Joseph, approached and spoke to Moses before the leaders of Israel, and they said:

2 And saide, The Lord commanded my lord to giue the land to inherit by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by the Lord, to giue the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother vnto his daughters.

“The Lord has instructed you, our ruler, so that you would divide the land by lot to the sons of Israel, and so that you would give to the daughters of Zelophehad, our brother, the possession owed to their father.

3 If they bee married to any of the sonnes of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and shalbe put vnto the inheritance of the tribe whereof they shalbe: so shall it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.

But if men of another tribe receive them as wives, their possession will follow them, and having been transferred to another tribe, there will be a reduction in our inheritance.

4 Also when the Iubile of the children of Israel commeth, then shall their inheritance be put vnto the inheritance of the tribe whereof they shall be: so shall their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.

And so it may be that, when the Jubilee of remission, that is, the fiftieth year, has arrived, the distribution by lots shall be confounded, and the possession of the one shall be transferred to others.”

5 Then Moses commanded the children of Israel, according to the word of the Lord, saying, The tribe of the sonnes of Ioseph haue said well.

Moses answered the sons of Israel, and, at the instruction of the Lord, he said: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph has spoken correctly.

6 This is the thing that the Lord hath commanded, concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, They shall be wiues, to whome they thinke best, onely to the familie of the tribe of their father shall they marry:

And so, this is the law which has been promulgated by the Lord about the daughters of Zelophehad: Let them marry whomever they may wish, but only among the men of their own tribe,

7 So shall not the inheritance of the children of Israel remoue from tribe to tribe, for euery one of the children of Israel shall ioyne himselfe to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.

lest the possession of the sons of Israel become commingled, from tribe to tribe. For all men shall take wives from their own tribe and kinship;

8 And euery daughter that possesseth any inheritance of the tribes of the children of Israel, shalbe wife vnto one of the familie of the tribe of her father: that the children of Israel may enioye euery man the inheritance of their fathers.

and all women shall take husbands from their same tribe, so that the inheritance may remain within the families,

9 Neither shall the inheritance go about from tribe to tribe: but euery one of the tribes of the childre of Israel shall sticke to his own inheritace.

and so that the tribes may not be mingled together, but may remain such as they were separated by the Lord.”

10 As the Lord commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad.

And the daughters of Zelophehad acted according to what was ordered.

11 For Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah the daughters of Zelophehad were married vnto their fathers brothers sonnes,

And Mahlah, and Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noa were wed to the sons of their paternal uncle,

12 They were wiues to certaine of the families of the sonnes of Manasseh the sonne of Ioseph: so their inheritance remained in the tribe of the familie of their father.

from the family of Manasseh, who was a son of Joseph. And the possession which had been distributed to them remained in the tribe and family of their father.

13 These are the commandements and lawes which the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, vnto the children of Israel in the plaine of Moab, by Iorden toward Iericho.

These are the commandments and judgments which the Lord ordered by the hand of Moses to the sons of Israel, in the plains of Moab, above the Jordan, opposite Jericho.