Numbers 36

1 Then came near the heads of fathers, belonging to the family of the sons of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, out of the families of the sons of Joseph, —and spake before Moses, and before the princes, heads of fathers belonging to the sons 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 they said—Unto my lord, did Yahweh give command, to bestow the land as an inheritance, by lot, unto the sons of Israel, —my lord, therefore, was commanded by Yahweh, to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother unto 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 When, therefore, unto any one from among the sons of the other tribes of the sons of Israel, they become wives their inheritance shall disappear out of the inheritance of our fathers, and be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall be received, —and so out of the lot of our inheritance, shall it disappear,

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 And when the jubilee shall come to the sons of Israel, then shall their inheritance be added unto the inheritance of the tribe to which they shall be received—and, out of the, inheritance of the tribe of our fathers, shall their inheritance disappear.

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 sons of Israel, at the bidding of Yahweh saying, —A right thing, are, the tribe of the sons of Joseph, speaking,

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 which Yahweh hath commanded, as to the daughters of Zelophehad saying: Unto whomsoever it may be good in their eyes, let them become wives, —save only unto the family of the tribe of their father, let them become wives.

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 no inheritance belonging to the sons of Israel go round from tribe to tribe, —for the sons of Israel shall, each one, cleave, unto 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, every daughter possessing all inheritance from among the tribes of the sons of Israel, unto one of the family of the tribe of her father, shall become wife, —to the intent that the sons of Israel may possess each one the inheritance of his fathers;

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

9 and no inheritance go round from one tribe to another tribe, —for the tribes of the sons of Israel shall cleave, each one unto his own inheritance.

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

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

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

11 Thus then did Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milchah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, become wives, unto the sons of their father’s brethren.

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

12 Unto men from among the families of the son of Manasseh son of Joseph, became they wives, —and so their inheritance remained with the tribe of the family 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 commandments and the regulations which Yahweh gave in charge, by the hand of Moses, unto the sons of Israel, —in the waste plains of Moab, by Jordan near Jericho.

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.