1 The heads of the ancestral houses in a clan of the descendants of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh—one of the Josephite clans—came up and spoke before Moses and Eleazar the priest and before the leaders who were the heads of the ancestral houses of the Israelites.
2 They said: “The Lord commanded my lord to apportion the land by lot for a heritage among the Israelites; and my lord was commanded by the Lord to give the heritage of Zelophehad our kinsman to his daughters.
3 But if they marry into one of the other Israelite tribes, their heritage will be withdrawn from our ancestral heritage and will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry; thus the heritage that fell to us by lot will be diminished.
4 When the Israelites celebrate the jubilee year, the heritage of these women will be added to that of the tribe into which they marry and their heritage will be withdrawn from that of our ancestral tribe.”
5 So Moses commanded the Israelites at the direction of the Lord: “The tribe of the Josephites are right in what they say.
6 This is what the Lord commands with regard to the daughters of Zelophehad: They may marry anyone they please, provided they marry into a clan of their ancestral tribe,