The Daughters of Zelophehad
1 Then drew near the daughters of xZelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of Manasseh the son of Joseph. The names of his daughters were: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 2 And they stood before Moses and before Eleazar the priest and before the chiefs and all the congregation, at the entrance of the tent of meeting, saying, 3 “Our father ydied in the wilderness. He was not among the company of those who gathered themselves together against the Lord zin the company of Korah, but adied for his own sin. And he had no sons. 4 Why should the name of our father be taken away from his clan because he had no son? bGive to us a possession among our father’s brothers.”
5 Moses cbrought their case before the Lord. 6 And the Lord said to Moses, 7 “The daughters of Zelophehad dare right. eYou shall give them possession of an inheritance among their father’s brothers and transfer the inheritance of their father to them. 8 And you shall speak to the people of Israel, saying, ‘If a man dies and has no son, then you shall transfer his inheritance to his daughter. 9 And if he has no daughter, then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. 10 And if he has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. 11 And if his father has no brothers, then you shall give his inheritance to the nearest fkinsman of his clan, and he shall possess it. And it shall be for the people of Israel ga statute and rule, as the Lord commanded Moses.’”
Joshua to Succeed Moses
12 The Lord said to Moses, “Go up into hthis mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given to the people of Israel. 13 When you have seen it, you also ishall be gathered to your people, as your brother Aaron was, 14 jbecause you rebelled against my word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing kto uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are lthe waters of Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) 15 Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, 16 “Let the Lord, mthe God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation 17 who nshall go out before them and come in before them, who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be oas sheep that have no shepherd.” 18 So the Lord said to Moses, “Take pJoshua the son of Nun, a man qin whom is the Spirit, and rlay your hand on him. 19 Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall scommission him in their sight. 20 You shall invest him with some of your authority, tthat all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for him uby the judgment of the Urim before the Lord. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” 22 And Moses did as the Lord commanded him. He took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole congregation, 23 and he laid his hands on him and scommissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses.
Marriage of Female Heirs
1 The heads of the fathers’ houses of the clan of the qpeople of Gilead the son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the clans of the people of Joseph, came near and spoke before Moses and before the chiefs, the heads of the fathers’ houses of the people of Israel. 2 They said, r“The Lord commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the people of Israel, and smy lord was commanded by the Lord to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters. 3 But if they are married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the people of Israel, then their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of our fathers and added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry. So it will be taken away from the lot of our inheritance. 4 And when tthe jubilee of the people of Israel comes, then their inheritance will be added to the inheritance of the tribe into which they marry, and their inheritance will be taken from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.”
5 And Moses commanded the people of Israel according to the word of the Lord, saying, “The tribe of the people of Joseph uis right. 6 This is what the Lord commands concerning the daughters of Zelophehad: ‘Let them marry whom they think best, vonly they shall marry within the clan of the tribe of their father. 7 The inheritance of the people of Israel shall not be transferred from one tribe to another, for every one of the people of Israel wshall hold on to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers. 8 And xevery daughter who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the people of Israel shall be wife to one of the clan of the tribe of her father, so that every one of the people of Israel may possess the inheritance of his fathers. 9 So no inheritance shall be transferred from one tribe to another, for each of the tribes of the people of Israel shall hold on to its own inheritance.’”
10 The daughters of Zelophehad did as the Lord commanded Moses, 11 yfor Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to sons of their father’s brothers. 12 They were married into the clans of the people of Manasseh the son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained in the tribe of their father’s clan.
13 These are the commandments and the rules that the Lord commanded through Moses to the people of Israel zin the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.
