| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Then the heads of the family groups of the Gileadites, the descendant of Machir, the descendant of Manasseh, who were from the Josephite families, approached and spoke before Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families. | 1Then the heads of the clans of Gilead—descendants of Makir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph—came to Moses and the family leaders of Israel with a petition. |
| 2They said, "The LORD commanded my lord to give the land as an inheritance by lot to the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the LORD to give the inheritance of our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. | 2They said, “Sir, the LORD instructed you to divide the land by sacred lot among the people of Israel. You were told by the LORD to give the grant of land owned by our brother Zelophehad to his daughters. |
| 3Now if they should be married to one of the men from another Israelite tribe, their inheritance would be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. As a result, it will be taken from the lot of our inheritance. | 3But if they marry men from another tribe, their grants of land will go with them to the tribe into which they marry. In this way, the total area of our tribal land will be reduced. |
| 4And when the Jubilee of the Israelites is to take place, their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So their inheritance will be taken away from the inheritance of our ancestral tribe." | 4Then when the Year of Jubilee comes, their portion of land will be added to that of the new tribe, causing it to be lost forever to our ancestral tribe.” |
| 5Then Moses gave a ruling to the Israelites by the word of the LORD: "What the tribe of the Josephites is saying is right. | 5So Moses gave the Israelites this command from the LORD: “The claim of the men of the tribe of Joseph is legitimate. |
| 6This is what the LORD has commanded for Zelophehad's daughters: 'Let them marry whomever they think best, only they must marry within the family of their father's tribe. | 6This is what the LORD commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: Let them marry anyone they like, as long as it is within their own ancestral tribe. |
| 7In this way the inheritance of the Israelites will not be transferred from tribe to tribe. But every one of the Israelites must retain the ancestral heritage. | 7None of the territorial land may pass from tribe to tribe, for all the land given to each tribe must remain within the tribe to which it was first allotted. |
| 8And 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 Israelite may retain the inheritance of his fathers. | 8The daughters throughout the tribes of Israel who are in line to inherit property must marry within their tribe, so that all the Israelites will keep their ancestral property. |
| 9No inheritance may pass from tribe to tribe. But every one of the tribes of the Israelites must retain its inheritance." | 9No grant of land may pass from one tribe to another; each tribe of Israel must keep its allotted portion of land.” |
| 10As the LORD had commanded Moses, so the daughters of Zelophehad did. | 10The daughters of Zelophehad did as the LORD commanded Moses. |
| 11For the daughters of Zelophehad--Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah--were married to the sons of their uncles. | 11Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah all married cousins on their father’s side. |
| 12They were married into the families of the Manassehites, the descendants of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father's family. | 12They married into the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. Thus, their inheritance of land remained within their ancestral tribe. |
| 13These are the commandments and the decisions that the LORD commanded the Israelites through the authority of Moses, on the plains of Moab by the Jordan River opposite Jericho. | 13These are the commands and regulations that the LORD gave to the people of Israel through Moses while they were camped on the plains of Moab beside the Jordan River, across from Jericho. |
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