Chronological Plan

¹Then the lot (allotment) for the sons of Joseph went from the Jordan Valley at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel.

²Then it went from Bethel to Luz, and continued to Ataroth, the border of the Archites.

³It went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the outskirts of lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ended at the sea.

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

⁵Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: on the east side the border of their inheritance was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon.

⁶Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah.

⁷It went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, touched Jericho and ended at the Jordan.

⁸The border continued from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families (clans),

⁹with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim within the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

¹⁰But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live among Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

¹Now this was the lot (allotment) for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war.

²So the lot was also made for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families—for the sons of Abiezer and for the sons of Helek and for the sons of Asriel and for the sons of Shechem and for the sons of Hepher and for the sons of Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families (clans).

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

⁴They came before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders and said, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers." So according to the command of the LORD Joshua gave them an inheritance among their father's brothers.

⁵So ten portions fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan [on the east side of the river],

⁶because the daughters of [Zelophehad, a descendant of] Manasseh had received an inheritance among his [other] sons [whose inheritance went to their male descendants]. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah.

⁸The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but [the city of] Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim.

⁹Then the border went down to the brook of Kanah, south of the brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim, among the cities of Manasseh), and Manasseh's border was on the north side of the brook and it ended at the sea.

¹⁰The land on the south side belonged to Ephraim and that on the north side was Manasseh's, and the sea was their border; they reached to [the territory of] Asher on the north and to [the territory of] Issachar on the east.

¹¹Also, in Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its towns and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the third is Napheth.

¹²But the sons of Manasseh were not able to [drive out the inhabitants and] take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land.

¹³When the Israelites became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

¹⁴The sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, "Why have you given us only one lot and one portion as an inheritance, when we are a numerous people whom the LORD has so far blessed?"

¹⁵Then Joshua replied, "If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you."

¹⁶The sons of Joseph said, "The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those in the Valley of Jezreel."

¹⁷Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, "You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot,

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, even though they have iron chariots and though they are strong."

¹Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh [in the tribal territory of Ephraim], and set up the Tent of Meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

²There remained among the Israelites seven tribes who had not yet divided their inheritance.

³So Joshua asked them, "How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

⁴Provide for yourselves three men from each tribe so that I may send them, and that they may go through the land and write a description of it with regard to their [tribal] inheritance; then they shall return to me.

⁵They shall divide it into seven parts; [the tribe of] Judah shall remain in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in its territory on the north.

⁶You shall describe the land in seven divisions, and bring the description here to me. I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

⁷But the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them."

⁸So the men arose and went [on their way], and Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land, saying, "Go and walk throughout the land and describe it, and return to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh."

⁹So the men set out and passed through the land, and described it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came back to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel, [to each tribe] according to their portions.

¹¹Now the lot (allotment) of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot fell between [the tribes of] the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

¹²On the north side their border began at the Jordan, then it went up the slope of Jericho on the north, and up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the Beth-aven wilderness.

¹³Then the border continued southward toward Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); then the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the hill that lies south of lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴The border changed course [from there] and turned around on the western side southward, from the hill that lies to the south opposite Beth-horon; it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of [the tribe of] the sons of Judah. This formed the western side [of Benjamin's territory].

¹⁵The southern side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went on westward and went to the source of the waters of Nephtoah.

¹⁶Then the border went down to the edge of the hill overlooking the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim; and it descended to the Valley of Hinnom, south to the slope of the Jebusite, and went on down to En-rogel.

¹⁷Then it turned toward the north and went on to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

¹⁸It continued to the north to the side opposite [Beth-] Arabah and went down to the Arabah.

¹⁹The border continued along to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt (Dead) Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

²⁰And the Jordan River was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, according to their families and according to its borders all around.

²¹Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz,

²²and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel,

²³and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah,

²⁴and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and Geba; twelve cities with their villages;

²⁵Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth,

²⁶and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah,

²⁷and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah,

²⁸and Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of [the tribe of] the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans).