Joshua 16-20

Joshua 16

¹The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness that goes up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.

²It went on from Bethel (that is, Luz) and proceeded to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.

³Then it descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of Lower Beth-horon and on to Gezer, and it ended at the Sea.

⁴So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.

⁵This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans: The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar in the east to Upper Beth-horon

⁶and out toward the Sea. From Michmethath on the north it turned eastward toward Taanath-shiloh and passed by it to Janoah on the east.

⁷From Janoah it went down to Ataroth and Naarah, and then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan.

⁸From Tappuah the border went westward to the Brook of Kanah and ended at the Sea. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Ephraim,

⁹along with all the cities and villages set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of Manasseh.

¹⁰But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites dwell among the Ephraimites to this day, but they are forced laborers.

Joshua 17

¹Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.

²So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.

³But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

⁴They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, and said, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the command of the LORD.

⁵Thus ten shares fell to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan,

⁶because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷Now the border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem, then southward to include the inhabitants of En-tappuah.

⁸The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim.

⁹From there the border continued southward to the Brook of Kanah. There were cities belonging to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, but the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Sea.

¹⁰Ephraim’s territory was to the south, and Manasseh’s was to the north, having the Sea as its border and adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.

¹¹Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was assigned Beth-shean, Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphath), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, each with their surrounding settlements.

¹²But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.

¹³However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they put the Canaanites to forced labor; but they failed to drive them out completely.

¹⁴Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”

¹⁵Joshua answered them, “If you have so many people that the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, go to the forest and clear for yourself an area in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”

¹⁶“The hill country is not enough for us,” they replied, “and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both in Beth-shean with its towns and in the Valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷So Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You have many people and great strength. You shall not have just one allotment,

¹⁸because the hill country will be yours as well. It is a forest; clear it, and its farthest limits will be yours. Although the Canaanites have iron chariots and although they are strong, you can drive them out.”

Joshua 18

¹Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,

²there were still seven tribes of Israel who had not yet received their inheritance.

³So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you put off entering and possessing the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

⁴Appoint three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to survey the land and map it out, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me

⁵and divide the land into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their territory in the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory in the north.

⁶When you have mapped out the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots for you here in the presence of the LORD our God.

⁷The Levites, however, have no portion among you, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the LORD. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received the inheritance that Moses the servant of the LORD gave them beyond the Jordan to the east.”

⁸As the men got up to go out, Joshua commanded them to map out the land, saying, “Go and survey the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the LORD.”

⁹So the men departed and went throughout the land, mapping it city by city into seven portions. Then they returned with the document to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

¹⁰And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

¹¹The first lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

¹²On the north side their border began at the Jordan, went up past the northern slope of Jericho, headed west through the hill country, and came out at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

¹³From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴On the west side the border curved southward from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south and came out at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the western side.

¹⁵On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended westward to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.

¹⁶Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the southern slope of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel.

¹⁷From there it curved northward and proceeded to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth facing the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

¹⁸Then it went on to the northern slope of Beth-arabah and went down into the valley.

¹⁹The border continued to the northern slope of Beth-hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

²⁰On the east side the border was the Jordan. These were the borders around the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

²¹These were the cities of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

²⁴Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, along with their villages.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

²⁸Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim —fourteen cities, along with their villages. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

Joshua 19

¹The second lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Simeon: Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah

²and included Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah,

³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,

⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,

⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities, along with their villages.

⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, along with their villages,

⁸and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah of the Negev). This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Simeon.

⁹The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the territory of Judah, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large for them. So the Simeonites received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.

¹⁰The third lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Zebulun: The border of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid.

¹¹It went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.

¹²From Sarid it turned eastward along the border of Chisloth-tabor and went on to Daberath and up to Japhia.

¹³From there it crossed eastward to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin; it extended to Rimmon and curved around toward Neah.

¹⁴Then the border circled around the north side of Neah to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtah-el.

¹⁵It also included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were twelve cities, along with their villages.

¹⁶This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Zebulun, including these cities and their villages.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Issachar:

¹⁸Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,

²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez.

²²The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan. There were sixteen cities, along with their villages.

²³This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Issachar, including these cities and their villages.

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Asher:

²⁵Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,

²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west the border touched Carmel and Shihor-libnath,

²⁷then turned eastward toward Beth-dagon, touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah-el, and went north to Beth-emek and Neiel, passing Cabul on the left.

²⁸It went on to Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Greater Sidon.

²⁹The border then turned back toward Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre, turned toward Hosah, and came out at the Sea in the region of Achzib,

³⁰Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob. There were twenty-two cities, along with their villages.

³¹This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Asher, including these cities and their villages.

³²The sixth lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Naphtali:

³³Their border started at Heleph and the great tree of Zaanannim, passing Adami-nekeb and Jabneel as far as Lakkum and ending at the Jordan.

³⁴Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor and ran from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun on the south side, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan on the east.

³⁵The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,

³⁸Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh. There were nineteen cities, along with their villages.

³⁹This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Naphtali, including these cities and their villages.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the clans of the tribe of Dan:

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,

⁴⁶Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, including the territory across from Joppa.

⁴⁷(Later, when the territory of the Danites was lost to them, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and put it to the sword. So they took possession of Leshem, settled there, and renamed it after their father Dan.)

⁴⁸This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Dan, including these cities and their villages.

⁴⁹When they had finished distributing the land into its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them,

⁵⁰as the LORD had commanded. They gave him the city of Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim, as he requested. He rebuilt the city and settled in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families distributed by lot to the tribes of Israel at Shiloh before the LORD at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing up the land.

Joshua 20

¹Then the LORD said to Joshua,

²“Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,

³so that anyone who kills another unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before its elders, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.

⁵Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not surrender the manslayer into his hand, because that man killed his neighbor accidentally without prior malice.

⁶He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time. Then the manslayer may return to his own home in the city from which he fled.”

⁷So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸And beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho, they designated Bezer on the wilderness plateau from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and foreigners among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.