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.

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;

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—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.

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.

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,

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 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.

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.

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,

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 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.

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 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,

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, 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;

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 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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.