March 14

Joshua 17:1 — 19:51

17 And the lot came to be for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was Joseph’s firstborn, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was one who proved to be a man of war; and Gilead and Bashan came to belong to him. 2 And there came to be [a lot] for the sons of Manasseh who were left over according to their families, for the sons of Abi-ezer and the sons of Helek and the sons of Asriel and the sons of Shechem and the sons of Hepher and the sons of Shemida. These were the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the males according to their families. 3 As for Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, he proved to have, not sons, but daughters, and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 4 So they presented themselves before Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the chieftains, saying: “Jehovah it was who commanded Moses to give us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” Accordingly he gave them, at the order of Jehovah, an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father.

5 And there were ten allotments falling to Manasseh apart from the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan; 6 for the daughters of Manasseh came into an inheritance in the midst of his sons; and the land of Gilead became the property of the sons of Manasseh who were left over.

7 And the boundary of Manasseh came to be from Asher to Michmethath, which is in front of Shechem, and the boundary moved to the right to the inhabitants of En-Tappuah. 8 The land of Tappuah became Manasseh’s, but Tappuah at the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim. 9 And the boundary went down to the torrent valley of Kanah, southward to the torrent valley of these cities of Ephraim in the midst of the cities of Manasseh, and the boundary of Manasseh was on the north of the torrent valley, and its termination came to be at the sea. 10 To the south it was Ephraim’s and to the north, Manasseh’s, and the sea came to be his boundary; and on the north they reach to Asher and on the east, to Issachar.

11 And there came to belong to Manasseh in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and its dependent towns and Ibleam and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of Dor and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of En-dor and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of Taanach and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependent towns, three of the heights.

12 And the sons of Manasseh did not prove able to take possession of these cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in this land. 13 And it turned out that when the sons of Israel had grown strong, they went putting the Canaanites at forced labor, and they did not dispossess them entirely.

14 And the sons of Joseph proceeded to speak with Joshua, saying: “Why is it that you have given me as an inheritance one lot and one allotment, whereas I am a numerous people for the reason that Jehovah has blessed me until now?” 15 At this Joshua said to them: “If you are a numerous people, go your way up to the forest, and you must cut it down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, because the mountainous region of Ephraim has become too narrow for you.” 16 Then the sons of Joseph said: “The mountainous region is not enough for us, and there are war chariots with iron scythes among all the Canaanites dwelling in the land of the low plain, both those who are in Beth-shean and its dependent towns and those who are in the low plain of Jezreel.” 17 So Joshua said this to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh: “A numerous people you are, and great power is yours. You ought not to get one lot, 18 but the mountainous region should become yours. Because it is a forest, you must cut it down, and it must become the termination point for you. For you should drive away the Canaanites, although they have war chariots with iron scythes and they are strong.”

18 Then all the assembly of the sons of Israel were congregated at Shiloh, and they proceeded to locate the tent of meeting there, as the land was now subdued before them. 2 But there were still left among the sons of Israel those whose inheritance they had not apportioned out, namely, seven tribes. 3 So Joshua said to the sons of Israel: “How long are YOU going to be delinquent about going in to take possession of the land that Jehovah the God of YOUR forefathers has given YOU? 4 Furnish for yourselves three men of each tribe and let me send them out, that they may get up and walk about in the land and map it out in accord with their inheritance, and let them come to me. 5 And they must apportion it among themselves into seven shares. Judah will keep standing on his territory to the south, and the house of Joseph will keep standing on their territory to the north. 6 As for YOU people, YOU will map out the land into seven shares, and YOU must bring them here to me, and I must cast lots here for YOU before Jehovah our God. 7 For the Levites have no share in among YOU, because the priesthood of Jehovah is their inheritance; and Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance on the side of the Jordan toward the east, which Moses the servant of Jehovah has given them.”

8 So the men got up that they might go, and Joshua proceeded to command those who were going to map out the land, saying: “Go and walk about in the land and map it out and return to me, and here is where I shall draw lots for YOU before Jehovah in Shiloh.” 9 With that the men went and passed through the land and mapped it out by cities in seven shares, in a book. After that they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh, 10 and Joshua went drawing lots for them in Shiloh before Jehovah. Thus Joshua there apportioned the land to the sons of Israel in their shares.

11 Then the lot came up of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin by their families, and the territory of their lot went out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 And their boundary came to be at the northern corner from the Jordan, and the boundary went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and went up on the mountain westward, and its termination proved to be at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 And the boundary passed over from there to Luz, at the southern slope of Luz, that is to say, Bethel; and the boundary went down to Ataroth-addar upon the mountain that is on the south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 And the boundary was marked out and went around at the western side to the south from the mountain that faces Beth-horon to the south; and its termination proved to be at Kiriath-baal, that is to say, Kiriath-jearim, a city of the sons of Judah. This is the western side.

15 And the side to the south was from the extremity of Kiriath-jearim, and the boundary went out westward and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 And the boundary went down to the extremity of the mountain that faces the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the low plain of Rephaim to the north, and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite on the south, and went down to En-rogel. 17 And it was marked out northward and went out to En-shemesh and went out to Geliloth, which is in front of the ascent of Adummim; and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 And it passed over to the northern slope in front of the Arabah and went down to the Arabah. 19 And the boundary passed over to the northern slope of Beth-hoglah, and the termination of it (the border) proved to be at the northern bay of the Salt Sea at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary. 20 And the Jordan served as its boundary on the eastern side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by their families, by its boundaries all around.

21 And the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin by their families proved to be Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz, 22 and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel, 23 and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah, 24 and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and Geba; twelve cities and their settlements.

25 Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth, 26 and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah, 27 and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah, 28 and Zelah, Ha-eleph and Jebusi, that is to say, Jerusalem, Gibeah and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their settlements.

This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin by their families.

19 Then the second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the sons of Simeon by their families. And their inheritance came to be in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah. 2 And they came to have in their inheritance Beer-sheba with Sheba, and Moladah, 3 and Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem, 4 and Eltolad and Bethul and Hormah, 5 and Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susah, 6 and Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their settlements. 7 Ain, Rimmon and Ether and Ashan; four cities and their settlements, 8 and all the settlements that were all around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the south. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon by their families. 9 The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was out of the allotment of the sons of Judah, because the share of the sons of Judah proved to be too large for them. So the sons of Simeon got a possession in the midst of their inheritance.

10 Next the third lot came up for the sons of Zebulun by their families, and the boundary of their inheritance came to be as far as Sarid. 11 And their boundary went up westward also to Mareal and reached to Dabbesheth and reached to the torrent valley that is in front of Jokneam. 12 And it went back from Sarid eastward toward the rising of the sun to the border of Chisloth-tabor and went out to Daberath and went up to Japhia. 13 And from there it passed over eastward toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and went out to Rimmon and was marked out to Neah. 14 And the boundary went around it on the north to Hannathon, and its terminations proved to be at the valley of Iphtah-el, 15 and Kattath and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Bethlehem; twelve cities and their settlements. 16 This was the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun by their families. These were the cities and their settlements.

17 It was for Issachar that the fourth lot came out, for the sons of Issachar by their families. 18 And their boundary came to be to Jezreel and Chesulloth and Shunem, 19 and Hapharaim and Shion and Anaharath, 20 and Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez, 21 and Remeth and En-gannim and En-haddah and Beth-pazzez. 22 And the boundary reached to Tabor and Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh, and the terminations of their border proved to be at the Jordan; sixteen cities and their settlements. 23 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar by their families, the cities and their settlements.

24 Then the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the sons of Asher by their families. 25 And their boundary came to be Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph, 26 and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal. And it reached westward to Carmel and to Shihor-libnath, 27 and it went back toward the rising of the sun to Beth-dagon and reached to Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah-el to the north, to Beth-emek and Neiel, and it went out to Cabul on the left, 28 and to Ebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah as far as populous Sidon. 29 And the boundary went back to Ramah and as far as the fortified city of Tyre. And the boundary went back to Hosah, and its terminations came to be at the sea in the region of Achzib, 30 and Ummah and Aphek and Rehob; twenty-two cities and their settlements. 31 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher by their families. These were the cities and their settlements.

32 It was for the sons of Naphtali that the sixth lot came out, for the sons of Naphtali by their families. 33 And their boundary came to be from Heleph, from the big tree in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb and Jabneel as far as Lakkum; and its terminations came to be at the Jordan. 34 And the boundary went back westward to Aznoth-tabor and went out from there to Hukkok and reached to Zebulun on the south, and to Asher it reached on the west and to Judah at the Jordan toward the rising of the sun. 35 And the fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer and Hammath, Rakkath and Chinnereth, 36 and Adamah and Ramah and Hazor, 37 and Kedesh and Edrei and En-hazor, 38 and Yiron and Migdal-el, Horem and Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities and their settlements. 39 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali by their families, the cities and their settlements.

40 It was for the tribe of the sons of Dan by their families that the seventh lot came out. 41 And the border of their inheritance came to be Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh, 42 and Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah, 43 and Elon and Timnah and Ekron, 44 and Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath, 45 and Jehud and Bene-berak and Gath-rimmon, 46 and Me-jarkon and Rakkon, with the border in front of Joppa. 47 And the territory of the sons of Dan was too cramped for them. And the sons of Dan proceeded to go up and war against Leshem and to capture it and strike it with the edge of the sword. Then they took possession of it and went dwelling in it, and they began to call Leshem Dan, according to the name of Dan their forefather. 48 This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan by their families. These were the cities and their settlements.

49 Thus they finished dividing the land for a possession by its territories. Then the sons of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua the son of Nun in their midst. 50 At the order of Jehovah they gave him the city for which he asked, namely, Timnath-serah, in the mountainous region of Ephraim; and he began to build up the city and dwell in it.

51 These were the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed as a possession by lot in Shiloh before Jehovah, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they left off from apportioning the land.