Zelophehad’s Daughters^(A)

27 Now the daughters of Hepher’s son Zelophehad, Gilead’s grandson, who had been fathered by Machir, who had been fathered by Manasseh, from the tribe of Manasseh, the direct son of Joseph, were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached ² Moses, Eleazar the priest, the elders, and the entire community at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, stood before them, and said, ³ “Our father died in the wilderness, but he wasn’t with the company of those who gathered against the Lord along with the company of Korah. He died in his own sin, and he had no sons. ⁴ Why are you going to eliminate the name of our father from his family, just because he had no son? Give us a possession from among our father’s relatives.”

⁵ So Moses brought the family into the Lord’s presence, ⁶ and the Lord told Moses, ⁷ “The daughters of Zelophehad are telling the truth. You are certainly to give to them a possession for an inheritance among their father’s relatives. You are to pass on the inheritance of their father to them. ⁸ Tell the Israelis that when a man dies without a son, you are to pass his inheritance to his daughter. ⁹ If he doesn’t have a daughter, give his inheritance to his brothers. ¹⁰ If he doesn’t have brothers, give his inheritance to his father’s brothers. ¹¹ If his father doesn’t have brothers, then give his inheritance to a relative who is nearest to him from the family and he’ll take possession of it. This is to be a permanent ordinance^[a] for the Israelis, just as the Lord commanded Moses.”