Joshua 16–17

Chapter 16

Territory of Ephraim

¹Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went 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.

²It went from Bethel to Luz, and ^acontinued to the border of the Archites at Ataroth.

³It 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.

⁴The ^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 continued beyond it to the east of Janoah.

⁷It went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to ^aNaarah, then 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 ¹drive out 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

Territory of Manasseh

¹Now 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 male ¹descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph 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.

⁴They came near before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So ^aaccording to the ¹command of the Lord 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.

⁷The 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.

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

¹¹In 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.

¹³It came about when the sons of Israel became strong, ^athey put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not ¹drive them out 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 the Lord has thus far blessed?”

¹⁵Joshua 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.”

¹⁶The 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.”

¹⁷Joshua 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 ³drive out the Canaanites, even though they have ^achariots of iron and though they are strong.”