Chronological Plan

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

²It went from Bethel to Luz, and continued to the border of the Archites at Ataroth.

³Then it went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower Beth-horon even 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: the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon.

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

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

⁸From Tappuah the border continued westward to the brook of Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families,

⁹together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of 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 in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

¹Now this was the lot 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 made for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families: for the sons of Abiezer, the sons of Helek, the sons of Asriel, the sons of Shechem, the sons of Hepher, and the sons of Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

³However, 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, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

⁴They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So in accordance with the command of the LORD he 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,

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.

⁷The border of Manasseh ran 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 Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim.

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

¹⁰The south side belonged to Ephraim and the north side to Manasseh, and the sea was their border; and they reached to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east.

¹¹In 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 could not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in this land.

¹³And it came about when the sons of Israel became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

¹⁴Then the sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me only one lot and one portion as an inheritance, though I am a numerous people whom the LORD has blessed up to this point?”

¹⁵And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

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

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

¹⁸but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and though they are strong.”

¹Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

²But there remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not divided their inheritance.

³So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “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 arise and walk through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance; then they shall return to me.

⁵And they shall divide it into seven portions; Judah shall stay in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall stay in their territory on the north.

⁶And you shall write a description of the land in seven divisions, and bring the description here to me. Then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

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

⁸Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to write a description of the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and write a description of it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.”

⁹So the men went and passed through the land, and wrote a description of it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD, and there Joshua divided the land for the sons of Israel according to their divisions.

¹¹Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

¹²Their border on the north side was from the Jordan, then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

¹³Then from there the border continued to Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill which lies on the south of lower Beth-horon.

¹⁴And the border changed direction from there and turned around on the west side southward, from the hill which lies opposite Beth-horon southward; and it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side.

¹⁵Then the south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

¹⁶Then the border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the Valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the Valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel.

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

¹⁸And it continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah.

¹⁹Then the border continued to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

²⁰Moreover, the Jordan 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, Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz,

²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, and Bethel,

²³Avvim, Parah, and Ophrah,

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

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, and Beeroth,

²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, and Mozah,

²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah,

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