Joshua 18:11-19:48
The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah’s descendants and Joseph’s descendants.Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, ascended to the slope of Jericho on the north, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven.From there the border went toward Luz, to the southern slope of Luz( that is, Bethel); it then went down by Ataroth-addar, over the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal( that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side of their border.The south side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border extended westward; it went to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.The border descended to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. It ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the south Jebusite slope and downward to En-rogel.It curved northward and went to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.Then it went north to the slope opposite the Jordan Valley and proceeded into the valley.The border continued to the north slope of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.The Jordan formed the border on the east side. This was the inheritance of Benjamin’s descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba— 12 cities, with their villages;Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,Zela, Haeleph, Jebus( that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath— 14 cities, with their villages. This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the portion of Judah’s descendants.Their inheritance included: Beer-sheba( or Sheba), Moladah,Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem,Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah,Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen— 13 cities, with their villages;Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan— four cities, with their villages;and all the villages surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer( Ramah of the south). This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans.The inheritance of Simeon’s descendants was within the territory of Judah’s descendants, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large for them. So Simeon’s descendants received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.The third lot came up for Zebulun’s descendants by their clans. The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid;their border went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam.From Sarid, it turned east toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth-tabor, went to Daberath, and went up to Japhia.From there, it went east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin; it extended to Rimmon, curving around to Neah.The border then circled around Neah on the north to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtah-el,along with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem— 12 cities, with their villages.This was the inheritance of Zebulun’s descendants by their clans, these cities, with their villages.The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans.Their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem,Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath,Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez,Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez.The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan— 16 cities, with their villages.This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans, the cities, with their villages.The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans.Their boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph,Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal and reached westward to Carmel and Shihor-libnath.It turned eastward to Beth-dagon, passed Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah-el, north toward Beth-emek and Neiel, and went north to Cabul,Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon.The boundary then turned to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre; it turned back to Hosah and ended at the sea, including Mahalab, Achzib,Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob— 22 cities, with their villages.This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their villages.The sixth lot came out for Naphtali’s descendants by their clans.Their boundary went from Heleph and from the oak in Zaanannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan.To the west, the boundary turned to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok, reaching Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan on the east.The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth,Adamah, Ramah, Hazor,Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor,Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh— 19 cities, with their villages.This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants by their clans, the cities with their villages.The seventh lot came out for the Danite tribe by its clans.The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh,Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,Elon, Timnah, Ekron,Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath,Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon,Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the territory facing Joppa.When the territory of the Danites slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan.This was the inheritance of the Danite tribe by its clans, these cities with their villages.
Joshua 17:1-13
This was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn. Gilead and Bashan came to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, who was a man of war.So the allotment was for the rest of Manasseh’s descendants by their clans, for the sons of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their clans.Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying,“ The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our male relatives.” So they gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the Lord’s instruction.As a result, 10 tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan,because Manasseh’s daughters received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh’s sons.The border of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath near Shechem. It then went southward toward the inhabitants of En-tappuah.The region of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself on Manasseh’s border belonged to the descendants of Ephraim.From there the border descended to the Brook of Kanah; south of the brook, cities belonged to Ephraim among Manasseh’s cities. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the brook and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.Ephraim’s territory was to the south and Manasseh’s to the north, with the Sea as its border. They reached Asher on the north and Issachar on the east.Within Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean with its towns, Ibleam with its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor with its towns; the inhabitants of En-dor with its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach with its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo with its towns— the three cities of Naphath.The descendants of Manasseh could not possess these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they imposed forced labor on the Canaanites but did not drive them out completely.
