Inheritance Through Marriage

36 ⌊The leaders⌋a of the familiesb of the clans of descendantsc of Gilead the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, of the clans of the descendantsd of Joseph came near and spoke ⌊before⌋e Moses and ⌊before⌋f ⌊the leaders⌋g of the familiesh of the ⌊Israelites⌋.i 2 And they said, “Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land by lot as an inheritance to the ⌊Israelites⌋,j and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they become wives to one of the sons from another tribe of the ⌊Israelites⌋,k their inheritance will disappear from the inheritance of our ancestors,l and it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; the lot of our inheritance would disappear. 4 When the Jubilee of the ⌊Israelites⌋m ⌊comes⌋,n it will be added to the inheritance of the tribe to which they belong; and their inheritance will disappear from the tribe of our father.”

5 Then Moses commanded the ⌊Israelites⌋o by the command of Yahweh, saying, “The tribe of the descendantsp of Joseph is right regarding what they are speaking. 6 This is the word that Yahweh commanded the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, ‘⌊Let them marry⌋q ⌊whomever they like⌋;r only ⌊they must marry⌋s from within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 Thus an inheritance of the ⌊Israelites⌋t will not go around from tribe to tribe. Rather, the inheritance of each tribe of his father will remain with the ⌊Israelites⌋.u 8 Every daughter who possesses an inheritance from the tribes of the ⌊Israelites⌋v will ⌊marry⌋w one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that the ⌊Israelites⌋x will possess the inheritance of his ancestors.y 9 Therefore an inheritance will not go around from one tribe to another tribe because the tribes of the ⌊Israelites⌋z will each hold to their own inheritance.’ ”

10 Just as Yahweh commanded to Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did: 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, ⌊married⌋a the sons of their uncles. 12 ⌊They married⌋b those from the sons of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance ⌊remained⌋c among the tribe of the clan of their ancestors.d

13 These were the commands and the stipulations that Yahweh commanded by the hand of Mosese to the ⌊Israelites⌋f on the desert-plateaus of Moab by the Jordan across Jericho.