The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

17 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the ^(A)firstborn of Joseph: namely for ^(B)Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war; therefore he was given ^(C)Gilead and Bashan. ² And there was a lot for ^(D)the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: ^(E)for the children of ^[a]Abiezer, the children of Helek, ^(F)the children of Asriel, the children of Shechem, ^(G)the children of Hepher, and the children of Shemida; these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

³ But ^(H)Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ And they came near before ^(I)Eleazar the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the rulers, saying, ^(J)“The Lord commanded Moses to give us an ^[b]inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore, according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers. ⁵ Ten shares fell to ^(K)Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan, ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.

⁷ And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to ^(L)Michmethath, that lies east of Shechem; and the border went along south to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. ⁸ Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, but ^(M)Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. ⁹ And the ^[c]border descended to the ^[d]Brook Kanah, southward to the brook. ^(N)These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook; and it ended at the sea.

¹⁰ Southward it was Ephraim’s, northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was its border. Manasseh’s territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. ¹¹ And in Issachar and in Asher, ^(O)Manasseh had ^(P)Beth Shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of En Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns—three hilly regions. ¹² Yet ^(Q)the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. ¹³ And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to ^(R)forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

More Land for Ephraim and Manasseh

^14 (S)Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only ^(T)one ^[e]lot and one share to inherit, since we are ^(U)a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?”

¹⁵ So Joshua answered them, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.”

¹⁶ But the children of Joseph said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have ^(V)chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are ^(W)of the Valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷ And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one ^[f]lot, ¹⁸ but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its ^[g]farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, ^(X)though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

The Remainder of the Land Divided

18 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together ^(A)at Shiloh, and ^(B)set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. ² But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance.

³ Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: ^(C)“How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? ⁴ Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. ⁵ And they shall divide it into seven parts. ^(D)Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the ^(E)house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. ⁶ You shall therefore ^[a]survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, ^(F)that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ^7 (G)But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. ^(H)And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸ Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to ^[b]survey the land, saying, “Go, walk ^(I)through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men went, passed through the land, and ^[c]wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. ¹⁰ Then Joshua cast ^(J)lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there ^(K)Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their ^[d]divisions.

The Land of Benjamin

^11 (L)Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ^12 (M)Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven. ¹³ The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz ^(N)(which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side ^(O)of Lower Beth Horon.

¹⁴ Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and ^[e]it ended at ^(P)Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.

¹⁵ The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to ^(Q)the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before ^(R)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the ^[f]Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to ^(S)En Rogel. ¹⁷ And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to ^(T)the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ Then it passed along toward the north side of ^[g]Arabah, and went down to Arabah. ¹⁹ And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then ^[h]the border ended at the north bay at the ^(U)Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.

²⁰ The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families.

²¹ Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²² Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages; ^25 (V)Gibeon, ^(W)Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zelah, Eleph, ^(X)Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.