Joshua 16–18

CHAPTER 16

Ephraim’s Inheritance

¹Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went out from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into ^athe wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel.

²And it went out from Bethel to Luz and ^apassed on to the border of the Archites at Ataroth.

³Then it went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower ^aBeth-horon even to ^bGezer, and ¹it ended at the sea.

⁴So the ^asons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

⁵Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance eastward was ^aAtaroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon.

⁶Then the border went westward at ^aMichmethath on the north, and the border turned about eastward to Taanath-shiloh and passed on beyond it to the east of Janoah.

⁷And it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to ^aNaarah and reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan.

⁸From ^aTappuah the border continued westward to the ¹brook of Kanah, and ²it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families,

⁹together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

^10aBut they did not dispossess the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so ^bthe Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

CHAPTER 17

Manasseh’s Inheritance

¹And this was the lot for the tribe of ^aManasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, ¹were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.

²So the lot was made for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families: for the sons of Abiezer and for the sons of Helek and for the sons of Asriel and for the sons of Shechem and for the sons of Hepher and for the sons of Shemida; these were the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the males according to their families.

³However, ^aZelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah.

⁴And they came near before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders, saying, “Yahweh commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So ^aaccording to the ¹word of Yahweh he gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers.

⁵Thus there fell ten portions to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan,

⁶because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the ^aland of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷And the border of Manasseh ¹ran from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went ²southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.

⁸The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but ^aTappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim.

⁹And the ^aborder went down to the ¹brook of Kanah, southward of the ²brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh), and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the ³brook, and ⁴it ended at the sea.

¹⁰The south side belonged to Ephraim and the north side to Manasseh, and the sea was ¹their border; and they reached to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east.

¹¹And in Issachar and in Asher, ^aManasseh had Beth-shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, the third is ^bNapheth.

^12aBut the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.

¹³Now it happened that when the sons of Israel became strong, ^athey put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not dispossess them completely.

¹⁴Then the ^asons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me only one lot and one portion for an inheritance, since I am a numerous people whom Yahweh has thus far blessed?”

¹⁵And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go ¹up to the forest and ²clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

¹⁶And the sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have ^achariots of iron, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those who are in the valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷Then Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, “You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have one lot only,

¹⁸but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall ¹clear it, and to its ²farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall dispossess the Canaanites, even though they have ^achariots of iron and even though they are strong.”

CHAPTER 18

The Remaining Land Divided

¹Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at ^aShiloh and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

²And there remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not divided their inheritance.

³So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “^aHow long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you?

⁴“Provide for yourselves three men from ¹each tribe that I may send them, and that they may arise and walk through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance; then they shall ²return to me.

⁵“And they shall divide it into seven portions; ^aJudah shall stay in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall stay in their territory on the north.

⁶“So you shall write a description of the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. ^aI will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.

⁷“For ^athe Levites have no portion among you because the priesthood of Yahweh is ¹their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”

⁸Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and write a description of it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in ^aShiloh.”

⁹So the men went and passed through the land and wrote a description of it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰And ^aJoshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions.

Benjamin’s Inheritance

¹¹Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot ¹lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

^12aAnd their border on the north side was from the Jordan; then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north and went up through the hill country westward, and ¹it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

¹³From there the border passed on to ^aLuz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill which lies on the south of ^blower Beth-horon.

¹⁴Then the border curved from there and turned round on the west side southward, from the hill which lies before Beth-horon southward; and ¹it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side.

¹⁵Then the ^asouth side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

¹⁶Then the border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the ^avalley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel.

¹⁷Then it curved northward and went out to En-shemesh and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the ^astone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

¹⁸Then it continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward and went down to the Arabah.

¹⁹And the border passed on to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the ¹border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border.

²⁰Moreover, the Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, according to their families and according to its borders all around.

²¹Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz,

²²and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel,

²³and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah,

²⁴and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and ^aGeba; twelve cities with their villages.

²⁵Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth,

²⁶and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah,

²⁷and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah,

²⁸and ^aZelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the ^bsons of Benjamin according to their families.