Numbers 36

1 The family leaders of the clan of Gilead of the tribe of Manasseh went to Moses/me and the other family leaders of the Israeli people.

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:

2 They said to Moses/me, “Yahweh commanded you, our leader, to apportion the land to the Israeli tribes by throwing (lots/stones that have been marked) to decide [which group would get which area]. Yahweh also commanded you to give the land that belonged to our fellow Israeli Zelophehad to his daughters.

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.

3 But if his daughters marry men from the other Israeli tribes, that land will no longer belong to our tribe. People of other tribes will get it. So some of our land will no longer belong to us.

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.

4 When the Year of Celebration comes, [when all the land that has been bought by someone is returned to its original owners], the land that belonged to Zelophehad will belong to the tribes of the men that his daughters marry. So some of our land, the land that we received from our fathers, will be taken from us, [and we will never own it again].”

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.

5 Yahweh told Moses/me what to reply to them, so Moses/I said this to them: “These men from the tribe of Manasseh are right.

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

6 This is what Yahweh is saying to the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Each of you may marry anyone you want to, but you must marry only someone from your own tribe.’

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.

7 In that way, the land that belongs to Israelis will not be passed from one tribe to another tribe. Each Israeli will keep the land in the tribe that belonged to his ancestors.

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.

8 A woman who inherits her father’s land may get married, but she must marry someone from her own tribe. In that way, every Israeli will keep the land that belonged to his ancestors.

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.

9 The land must not be passed from one tribe to another tribe. Each Israeli tribe must keep the land that it received from its ancestors.”

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.

10 Zelophehad’s daughters obeyed what Yahweh told Moses/me.

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

11 The five daughters—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah and Noah—married their cousins, their father’s relatives.

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

12 The men whom they married were from the tribe of Manasseh, so their land continued to belong to their father’s family and tribe.

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.

13 Those were the commands [DOU] that Yahweh gave to Moses/me to tell to the Israelis, while they/we were on the plains of the Moab region, close to the Jordan River, across from Jericho.

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