161The southern boundary of the land assigned to the descendants of Joseph started from the Jordan near Jericho, at a point east of the springs of Jericho, and went into the desert. It went from Jericho up into the hill country as far as Bethel. 2From Bethel it went to Luz, passing on to Ataroth Addar, where the Archites lived. 3It then went west to the area of the Japhletites, as far as the area of Lower Beth Horon. It went on from there to Gezer and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
4The descendants of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and West Manasseh, received this land as their possession.
5This was the territory of the Ephraimite families: their border ran from Ataroth Addar eastwards to Upper Beth Horon, 6and from there to the Mediterranean Sea. Michmethath was on their north. East of there the border bent towards Taanath Shiloh and went past it on the east to Janoah. 7Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah, reaching Jericho and ending at the Jordan. 8The border went west from Tappuah to the stream of Kanah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This was the land given to the families of the tribe of Ephraim as their possession, 9along with some towns and villages that were within the borders of Manasseh, but given to the Ephraimites. 10
But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived among the Ephraimites to this day, but they have been forced to work as slaves.
171A part of the land west of the Jordan was assigned to some of the families descended from Joseph's elder son Manasseh. Machir, the father of Gilead, was Manasseh's eldest son and a military hero, so Gilead and Bashan, east of the Jordan, were assigned to him. 2Land west of the Jordan was assigned to the rest of the families of Manasseh: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and they were heads of families. 3Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, did not have any sons, but only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4
They went to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and to the leaders, and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us, as well as our male relatives, a part of the land to possess.” So, as the LORD had commanded, they were given land along with their male relatives. 5That is why Manasseh received ten shares in addition to Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan, 6since his female descendants as well as his male descendants were assigned land. The land of Gilead was assigned to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.
7The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath, east of Shechem. The border then went south to include the people of Entappuah. 8The land round Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah, on the border, belonged to the descendants of Ephraim. 9The border then went down to the stream of Kanah. The cities south of the stream belonged to Ephraim, even though they were in the territory of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh proceeded along the north side of the stream and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. 10Ephraim was to the south, and Manasseh was to the north, with the Mediterranean Sea as their western border. Asher was to the north-west, and Issachar to the north-east. 11Within the territories of Issachar and Asher, Manasseh possessed Beth Shan and Ibleam, along with their surrounding towns, as well as Dor (the one on the coast),17.11 Probable text Dor (the one on the coast); Hebrew unclear. Endor, Taanach, Megiddo, and their surrounding towns. 12
The people of Manasseh, however, were not able to drive out the people living in those cities, so the Canaanites continued to live there. 13Even when the Israelites became stronger, they did not drive out all the Canaanites, but they did force them to work for them.
14The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one part of the land to possess as our own? There are very many of us because the LORD has blessed us.”
15Joshua answered, “If there are so many of you and the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, then go into the forests and clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”
16They replied, “The hill country is not big enough for us, but the Canaanites in the plains have iron chariots, both those who live in Beth Shan and its surrounding towns and those who live in the Valley of Jezreel.”
17Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and West Manasseh, “There are indeed many of you, and you are very powerful. You shall have more than one share. 18The hill country will be yours. Even though it is a forest, you will clear it and take possession of it from one end to the other. As for the Canaanites, you will drive them out, even though they do have iron chariots and are a strong people.”
181After they had conquered the land, the entire community of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of the LORD's presence. 2There were still seven tribes of the people of Israel who had not yet been assigned their share of the land. 3So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long are you going to wait before you go in and take the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4Let me have three men from each tribe. I will send them out over the whole country to map out the territory that they would like to have as their possession. Then they are to come back to me. 5The land will be divided among them in seven parts; Judah will stay in its territory in the south, and Joseph in its territory in the north. 6Write down a description of these seven divisions and bring it to me. Then I will draw lots18.6 draw lots: See 14.2. to consult the LORD our God for you. 7The Levites, however, will not receive a share of the land with the rest of you, because their share is to serve as the LORD's priests. And of course, the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and East Manasseh have already received their land east of the Jordan, which Moses, the LORD's servant, gave to them.”
8The men went on their way to map out the land after Joshua had given them these instructions: “Go all over the land and map it out, and come back to me. And then here in Shiloh I will consult the LORD for you by drawing lots.” 9So the men went all over the land and set down in writing how they divided it into seven parts, making a list of the towns. Then they went back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10Joshua drew lots to consult the LORD for them, and assigned each of the remaining tribes of Israel a certain part of the land.
11The territory belonging to the families of the tribe of Benjamin was the first to be assigned. Their land lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph. 12On the north their border began at the Jordan and then went up the slope north of Jericho and westwards through the hill country as far as the desert of Bethaven. 13The border then went to the slope on the south side of Luz (also called Bethel), then down to Ataroth Addar, on the mountain south of Lower Beth Horon. 14The border then went in another direction, turning south from the western side of this mountain and going to Kiriath Baal (or Kiriath Jearim), which belongs to the tribe of Judah. This was the western border. 15The southern border started on the edge of Kiriath Jearim and went18.15 Probable text and went; Hebrew and went westwards. to the Springs of Nephtoah. 16It then went down to the foot of the mountain that overlooks the Valley of Hinnom, at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim. It then went south through the Valley of Hinnom, south of the Jebusite ridge, towards Enrogel. 17It then turned north to Enshemesh and then on to Geliloth, opposite Adummim Pass. The border then went down to the Stone of Bohan (Bohan was a son of Reuben) 18and passed north of the ridge overlooking the Jordan Valley. It then went down into the valley, 19passing north of the ridge of Beth Hoglah, and ended at the northern inlet on the Dead Sea, where the River Jordan empties into it. This was the southern border. 20The Jordan was the eastern border. These were the borders of the land which the families of the tribe of Benjamin received as their possession.
21The cities belonging to the families of the tribe of Benjamin were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24Chepharammoni, Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities, along with the towns round them. 25There were also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, 27Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (or Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath Jearim: fourteen cities, along with the towns round them. This is the land which the families of the tribe of Benjamin received as their possession.