1: The heads of the ancestral clan of Gilead son of Makir, the son of Manasseh--they were from the clans of the descendants of Joseph--approached Moses and the leaders who were heads of the families in the People of Israel.
2: They said, "When GOD commanded my master to hand over the inheritance-lands by lot to the People of Israel, my master was also commanded by GOD to hand over the inheritance-land of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
3: But what happens if they marry into another tribe in the People of Israel? Their inheritance-land will be taken out of our ancestral tribe and get added into the tribe into which they married.
4: And then when the Year of Jubilee comes for the People of Israel their inheritance will be lumped in with the inheritance of the tribe into which they married--their land will be removed from our ancestors' inheritance!"
5: Moses, at GOD's command, issued this order to the People of Israel: "What the tribe of the sons of Joseph says is right.
6: This is GOD's command to Zelophehad's daughters: They are free to marry anyone they choose as long as they marry within their ancestral clan.
7: The inheritance-land of the People of Israel must not get passed around from tribe to tribe. No, keep the tribal inheritance-land in the family.
8: Every daughter who inherits land, regardless of the tribe she is in, must marry a man from within her father's tribal clan. Every Israelite is responsible for making sure the inheritance stays within the ancestral tribe.
9: No inheritance-land may be passed from tribe to tribe; each tribe of the People of Israel must hold tight to its own land."
10: Zelophehad's daughters did just as GOD commanded Moses.
11: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, Zelophehad's daughters, all married their cousins on their father's side.
12: They married within the families of Manasseh son of Joseph and their inheritance-lands stayed in their father's family.
13: These are the commands and regulations that GOD commanded through the authority of Moses to the People of Israel on the Plains of Moab at Jordan-Jericho.