1 The heads of the families in the clan of Gilead the son of Machir and grandson of Manasseh son of Joseph, went to Moses and the other leaders.

2 They said: »Jehovah commanded you to distribute the land to the people of Israel by drawing lots. He also commanded you to give the property of our relative Zelophehad to his daughters.

3 »Remember, if they marry men of another tribe, their property will then belong to that tribe, and the total allotted to us will be reduced.

4 »During the Year of Restoration, when all property that has been sold is restored to its original owners, the property of Zelophehad’s daughters will be permanently added to the tribe into which they marry and will be lost to our tribe.«

5 So Moses gave the people of Israel the following command from Jehovah. He said: »What the tribe of Manasseh says is right,

6 and so Jehovah says that the daughters of Zelophehad are free to marry anyone they wish but only within their own tribe.

7 »The property of every Israelite will remain attached to his tribe.

8 »Every woman who inherits property in an Israelite tribe must marry a man belonging to that tribe. In this way all Israelites will inherit the property of their ancestors,

9 and the property will not pass from one tribe to another. Each tribe will continue to possess its own property.«

10 Zelophehad’s daughters did as Jehovah 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 commandments and rules Jehovah gave the Israelites through Moses on the plains of Moab near the Jordan River across from Jericho.