Numbers 36
Christian Standard Bible
The Inheritance of Zelophehad’s Daughters
36 The family heads from the clan of the descendants of Gilead—the son of Machir, son of Manasseh(A)—who were from the clans of the sons of Joseph, approached and addressed Moses and the leaders who were heads of the Israelite families. 2 They said, “The Lord commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites. My lord was further commanded by the Lord to give our brother Zelophehad’s inheritance to his daughters.(B) 3 If they marry any of the men from the other Israelite tribes, their inheritance will be taken away from our fathers’ inheritance and added to that of the tribe into which they marry. Therefore, part of our allotted inheritance would be taken away. 4 When the Jubilee(C) comes for the Israelites, their inheritance will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe.”
5 So Moses commanded the Israelites at the word of the Lord, “What the tribe of Joseph’s descendants says is right. 6 This is what the Lord has commanded concerning Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they like provided they marry within a clan of their ancestral tribe. 7 No inheritance belonging to the Israelites is to transfer from tribe to tribe, because each of the Israelites is to retain the inheritance of his ancestral tribe.(D) 8 Any daughter who possesses an inheritance from an Israelite tribe must marry someone from the clan of her ancestral tribe, so that each of the Israelites will possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 No inheritance is to transfer from one tribe to another, because each of the Israelite tribes is to retain its inheritance.”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, married cousins on their father’s side. 12 They married men from the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commands and ordinances the Lord commanded the Israelites through Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho.
Numbers 36
GOD’S WORD Translation
The Rights of Women to Inherit Land
36 The heads of the households whose families were descended from Gilead, son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh, (families of Joseph’s descendants) came and spoke to Moses and the leaders of the other Israelite households. 2 They said, “Sir, the Lord commanded you to give the Israelites their land by drawing lots. The Lord also commanded you to give the land of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters. 3 Suppose they marry men from the other tribes of Israel. Their land will be taken away from that of our ancestors and added to the land of the tribe they marry into. Then we will have lost part of our land. 4 When the Israelites’ jubilee year comes, their land will be added to that of the tribe they married into. Then part of the land of our ancestors’ tribe will be gone.”
5 So Moses gave the Israelites a command from the Lord. “The tribe of Joseph’s descendants is right. 6 This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they want to, but only within a family of their ancestor’s tribe. 7 In this way no land of the Israelites will pass from one tribe to another. Every Israelite must keep the tribal land inherited from his ancestors. 8 A woman who inherits land in any of the tribes of Israel may marry a man from any family in her ancestor’s tribe. In this way every Israelite keeps the land inherited from his ancestors. 9 No land may pass from one tribe to another. Each Israelite tribe must keep the land it inherits.”
10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as the Lord commanded Moses. 11 Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah married their cousins on their father’s side of the family. 12 They married within the families of the descendants of Manasseh, son of Joseph. So their land stayed in the tribe of their father’s family.
13 These are the commands and rules the Lord gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.
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