Joshua 17-21

New King James Version

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

17 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the ^(A)firstborn of Joseph: namely for ^(B)Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war; therefore he was given ^(C)Gilead and Bashan. ² And there was a lot for ^(D)the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families: ^(E)for the children of ^[a]Abiezer, the children of Helek, ^(F)the children of Asriel, the children of Shechem, ^(G)the children of Hepher, and the children of Shemida; these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

³ But ^(H)Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters. And these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ And they came near before ^(I)Eleazar the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the rulers, saying, ^(J)“The Lord commanded Moses to give us an ^[b]inheritance among our brothers.” Therefore, according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers. ⁵ Ten shares fell to ^(K)Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan, ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons; and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.

⁷ And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to ^(L)Michmethath, that lies east of Shechem; and the border went along south to the inhabitants of En Tappuah. ⁸ Manasseh had the land of Tappuah, but ^(M)Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim. ⁹ And the ^[c]border descended to the ^[d]Brook Kanah, southward to the brook. ^(N)These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook; and it ended at the sea.

¹⁰ Southward it was Ephraim’s, northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was its border. Manasseh’s territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east. ¹¹ And in Issachar and in Asher, ^(O)Manasseh had ^(P)Beth Shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of En Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns—three hilly regions. ¹² Yet ^(Q)the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land. ¹³ And it happened, when the children of Israel grew strong, that they put the Canaanites to ^(R)forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

More Land for Ephraim and Manasseh

^14 (S)Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only ^(T)one ^[e]lot and one share to inherit, since we are ^(U)a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us until now?”

¹⁵ So Joshua answered them, “If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the giants, since the mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.”

¹⁶ But the children of Joseph said, “The mountain country is not enough for us; and all the Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have ^(V)chariots of iron, both those who are of Beth Shean and its towns and those who are ^(W)of the Valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷ And Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—saying, “You are a great people and have great power; you shall not have only one ^[f]lot, ¹⁸ but the mountain country shall be yours. Although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its ^[g]farthest extent shall be yours; for you shall drive out the Canaanites, ^(X)though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

The Remainder of the Land Divided

18 Now the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together ^(Y)at Shiloh, and ^(Z)set up the tabernacle of meeting there. And the land was subdued before them. ² But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their inheritance.

³ Then Joshua said to the children of Israel: ^(AA)“How long will you neglect to go and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you? ⁴ Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them; they shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance, and come back to me. ⁵ And they shall divide it into seven parts. ^(AB)Judah shall remain in their territory on the south, and the ^(AC)house of Joseph shall remain in their territory on the north. ⁶ You shall therefore ^[h]survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, ^(AD)that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ^7 (AE)But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. ^(AF)And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸ Then the men arose to go away; and Joshua charged those who went to ^[i]survey the land, saying, “Go, walk ^(AG)through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men went, passed through the land, and ^[j]wrote the survey in a book in seven parts by cities; and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. ¹⁰ Then Joshua cast ^(AH)lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there ^(AI)Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their ^[k]divisions.

The Land of Benjamin

^11 (AJ)Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. ^12 (AK)Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; it ended at the Wilderness of Beth Aven. ¹³ The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz ^(AL)(which is Bethel) southward; and the border descended to Ataroth Addar, near the hill that lies on the south side ^(AM)of Lower Beth Horon.

¹⁴ Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before Beth Horon southward; and ^[l]it ended at ^(AN)Kirjath Baal (which is Kirjath Jearim), a city of the children of Judah. This was the west side.

¹⁵ The south side began at the end of Kirjath Jearim, and the border extended on the west and went out to ^(AO)the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before ^(AP)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of the ^[m]Rephaim on the north, descended to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to ^(AQ)En Rogel. ¹⁷ And it went around from the north, went out to En Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth, which is before the Ascent of Adummim, and descended to ^(AR)the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ Then it passed along toward the north side of ^[n]Arabah, and went down to Arabah. ¹⁹ And the border passed along to the north side of Beth Hoglah; then ^[o]the border ended at the north bay at the ^(AS)Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.

²⁰ The Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its boundaries all around, according to their families.

²¹ Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²² Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar Haammoni, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages; ^25 (AT)Gibeon, ^(AU)Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpah, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zelah, Eleph, ^(AV)Jebus (which is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Simeon’s Inheritance with Judah

19 The ^(AW)second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. ^(AX)And their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. ^2 (AY)They had in their inheritance Beersheba (Sheba), Moladah, ³ Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, ⁶ Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen: thirteen cities and their villages; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan: four cities and their villages; ⁸ and all the villages that were all around these cities as far as Baalath Beer, ^(AZ)Ramah of the South. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

⁹ The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was ^[p]too much for them. ^(BA)Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of ^[q]that people.

The Land of Zebulun

¹⁰ The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun according to their families, and the border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. ^11 (BB)Their border went toward the west and to Maralah, went to Dabbasheth, and extended along the brook that is ^(BC)east of Jokneam. ¹² Then from Sarid it went eastward toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth Tabor, and went out toward ^(BD)Daberath, bypassing Japhia. ¹³ And from there it passed along on the east of ^(BE)Gath Hepher, toward Eth Kazin, and extended to Rimmon, which borders on Neah. ¹⁴ Then the border went around it on the north side of Hannathon, and ^[r]it ended in the Valley of Jiphthah El. ¹⁵ Included were Kattath, Nahallal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages. ¹⁶ This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. ¹⁸ And their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Haphraim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Abez, ²¹ Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez. ²² And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazimah, and ^(BF)Beth Shemesh; their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. ²³ This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Asher

^24 (BG)The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families. ²⁵ And their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Alammelech, Amad, and Mishal; it reached to ^(BH)Mount Carmel westward, along the Brook Shihor Libnath. ²⁷ It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon; and it reached to Zebulun and to the Valley of Jiphthah El, then northward beyond Beth Emek and Neiel, bypassing ^(BI)Cabul which was on the left, ²⁸ including ^[s]Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, ^(BJ)as far as Greater Sidon. ²⁹ And the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea by the region of ^(BK)Achzib. ³⁰ Also Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were included: twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹ This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Naphtali

^32 (BL)The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families. ³³ And their border began at Heleph, enclosing the territory from the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, Adami Nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; ^[t]it ended at the Jordan. ^34 (BM)From Heleph the border extended westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there toward Hukkok; it adjoined Zebulun on the south side and Asher on the west side, and ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise. ³⁵ And the fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ^37 (BN)Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh: nineteen cities with their villages. ³⁹ This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Dan

^40 (BO)The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. ⁴¹ And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, ^(BP)Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ^42 (BQ)Shaalabbin, ^(BR)Aijalon, Jethlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, ^(BS)Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the region ^[u]near ^[v]Joppa. ⁴⁷ And the ^(BT)border of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it; and they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, ^(BU)Dan, after the name of Dan their father. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹ When they had ^[w]made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked for, ^(BV)Timnath ^(BW)Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it.

^51 (BX)These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot ^(BY)in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.

The Cities of Refuge^(BZ)

20 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ^(CA)‘Appoint^[x] for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³ that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and ^[y]declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. ^5 (CB)Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ And he shall dwell in that city ^(CC)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

⁷ So they appointed ^(CD)Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, ^(CE)Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and ^(CF)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in ^(CG)the mountains of Judah. ⁸ And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned ^(CH)Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, ^(CI)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^(CJ)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ^9 (CK)These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who ^[z]dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood ^(CL)until he stood before the congregation.

Cities of the Levites^(CM)

21 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the ^(CN)Levites came near to ^(CO)Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. ² And they spoke to them at ^(CP)Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, ^(CQ)“The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.” ³ So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:

⁴ Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And ^(CR)the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, ^(CS)had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin. ^5 (CT)The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ And ^(CU)the children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

^7 (CV)The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

^8 (CW)And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, ^(CX)as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

⁹ So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are ^[aa]designated by name, ¹⁰ which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for the lot was theirs first. ^11 (CY)And they gave them ^[ab]Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of ^(CZ)Anak), ^(DA)which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it. ¹² But ^(DB)the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ Thus ^(DC)to the children of Aaron the priest they gave ^(DD)Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^(DE)Libnah with its common-land, ^14 (DF)Jattir with its common-land, ^(DG)Eshtemoa with its common-land, ^15 (DH)Holon with its common-land, ^(DI)Debir with its common-land, ^16 (DJ)Ain with its common-land, ^(DK)Juttah with its common-land, and ^(DL)Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes; ¹⁷ and from the tribe of Benjamin, ^(DM)Gibeon with its common-land, ^(DN)Geba with its common-land, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its common-land, and ^(DO)Almon with its common-land: four cities. ¹⁹ All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

^20 (DP)And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their ^[ac]lot from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ For they gave them ^(DQ)Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^(DR)Gezer with its common-land, ²² Kibzaim with its common-land, and Beth Horon with its common-land: four cities; ²³ and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common-land, Gibbethon with its common-land, ^24 (DS)Aijalon with its common-land, and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: four cities; ²⁵ and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common-land and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: two cities. ²⁶ All the ten cities with their common-lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath.

^27 (DT)Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave ^(DU)Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities; ²⁸ and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities; ³⁰ and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land, ³¹ Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities; ³² and from the tribe of Naphtali, ^(DV)Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities. ³³ All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

^34 (DW)And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land, ³⁵ Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities; ^36 [ad]and from the tribe of Reuben, ^(DX)Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities; ³⁸ and from the tribe of Gad, ^(DY)Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land, ³⁹ Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all. ⁴⁰ So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

^41 (DZ)All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands. ⁴² Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.

The Promise Fulfilled

⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel ^(EA)all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they ^(EB)took possession of it and dwelt in it. ^44 (EC)The Lord gave them ^(ED)rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And ^(EE)not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. ^45 (EF)Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.