Moses’ Decision

36:5 Then Moses gave a ruling9 to the Israelites by the word10 of the Lord: “What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right. 36:6 This is what11 the Lord has commanded for Zelophehad’s daughters: ‘Let them marry12 whomever they think best,13 only they must marry within the family of their father’s tribe. 36:7 In this way the inheritance of the Israelites will not be transferred14 from tribe to tribe. But every one of the Israelites must retain the ancestral heritage. 36:8 And every daughter who possesses an inheritance from any of the tribes of the Israelites must become the wife of a man from any family in her father’s tribe, so that every Israelite15 may retain the inheritance of his fathers. 36:9 No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe. But every one of the tribes of the Israelites must retain its inheritance.”

36:10 As the Lord had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did. 36:11 For the daughters of Zelophehad—Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah—were married to the sons of their uncles.16 36:12 They were married into the families of the Manassehites, the descendants of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s family.

36:13 These are the commandments and the decisions that the Lord commanded the Israelites through the authority17 of Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River18 opposite Jericho.19