Joshua 16–18

Chapter 16

¹The allotment of the descendants of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel; ²then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites; ³then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

⁴The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

⁵The territory of the Ephraimites by their families was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, ⁶and the boundary goes thence to the sea; on the north is Mich-methath; then on the east the boundary turns round toward Taanath-shiloh, and passes along beyond it on the east to Jan-oah, ⁷then it goes down from Jan-oah to Ataroth and to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. ⁸From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah, and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the Ephraimites by their families, ⁹together with the towns which were set apart for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. ¹⁰However they did not drive out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: so the Canaanites have dwelt in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have become slaves to do forced labor.

Chapter 17

¹Then allotment was made to the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the first-born of Joseph. To Machir the first-born of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. ²And allotments were made to the rest of the tribe of Manasseh, by their families, Abi-ezer, Helek, Asri-el, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their families.

³Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴They came before Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders, and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brethren.” So according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father. ⁵Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan; ⁶because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the Manassites.

⁷The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Mich-methath, which is east of Shechem; then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ⁸The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim. ⁹Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. The cities here, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea; ¹⁰the land to the south being Ephraim’s and that to the north being Manasseh’s, with the sea forming its boundary; on the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. ¹¹Also in Issachar and in Asher Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its villages; the third is Naphath.¹²Yet the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities; but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. ¹³But when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, and did not utterly drive them out.

¹⁴And the tribe of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am a numerous people, since hitherto the Lord has blessed me?” ¹⁵And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” ¹⁶The tribe of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us; yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” ¹⁷Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “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 clear it and possess it to its farthest borders; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Chapter 18

¹Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; the land lay subdued before them.

²There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. ³So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you be slack to go in and take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. ⁵They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north. ⁶And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down and write a description of the land, and come again to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹So the men went and passed up and down in the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.

¹¹The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph. ¹²On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (the same is Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, upon the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon. ¹⁴Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side. ¹⁵And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah; ¹⁶then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Rephaim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel; ¹⁷then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and thence goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim; then it goes down^l to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben; ¹⁸and passing on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-arabah it goes down to the Arabah; ¹⁹then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. ²⁰The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary round about.

²¹Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: ²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Be-eroth, ²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zela, Ha-eleph, Jebus^m (that is, Jerusalem), Gibe-ahⁿ and Kiriath-jearim^o—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.