17 Then land was given to the family group of Manasseh. Manasseh was Joseph’s first son. Manasseh’s first son was Makir, the father of Gilead.* Makir was a great soldier, so the areas of Gilead and Bashan were given to the Makir family. ²Land was also given to the other families in the family group of Manasseh. Those families were Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. All these men were the other sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph. The families of these men got their share of the land. ³Zelophehad was the son of Hepher. Hepher was the son of Gilead. Gilead was the son of Makir, and Makir was the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he had five daughters. The daughters were named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴The daughters went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and all the leaders. The daughters said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land the same as our male relatives.” So he obeyed the Lord and gave the daughters some land. So these daughters got land the same as their uncles. ⁵So the family group of Manasseh had ten areas of land west of the Jordan River and two more areas of land, Gilead and Bashan, on the other side of the Jordan River. ⁶So these women from the family group of Manasseh got land the same as the men. The land of Gilead was given to the rest of the families of Manasseh. ⁷The lands of Manasseh were in the area between Asher and Micmethath. This is near Shechem. The border went south to the En Tappuah area. ⁸The land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town itself did not. The town of Tappuah was at the border of Manasseh’s land and it belonged to the people of Ephraim. ⁹The border of Manasseh continued south to Kanah Ravine. This area belonged to Manasseh’s family group, but the cities belonged to the people of Ephraim. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the river and it continued west to the Mediterranean Sea. ¹⁰The land to the south belonged to Ephraim. And the land to the north belonged to Manasseh. The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. The border touched Asher’s land in the north and Issachar’s land in the east. ¹¹The people of Manasseh also had towns in the area of Issachar and Asher. Beth Shean, Ibleam and the small towns around them belonged to the people of Manasseh. People of Manasseh also lived in Dor, Endor, Taanach, Megiddo, and the small towns around those cities. They also lived in the three towns of Naphoth. ¹²The people of Manasseh were not able to defeat those cities. So the Canaanite people continued to live there. ¹³But the people of Israel grew strong. When this happened, they forced the people of Canaan to work for them. But they did not force the Canaanite people to leave that land. ¹⁴The family group of Joseph spoke to Joshua and said, “You gave us only one area of land. But we are many people. Why did you only give us one part of all the land that the Lord gave his people?” ¹⁵Joshua answered them, “If you have too many people, then go up to wooded area in the hill country and clear that land and make it useable. That land now belongs to the Perizzite people and the Rephaite people. But if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, then go take that land.” ¹⁶The people of Joseph said, “It is true that the hill country of Ephraim is not large enough for us. But the Canaanite people living there have powerful weapons—they have iron chariots!* And those people control Jezreel Valley, Beth Shean and all the small towns in that area.” ¹⁷Then Joshua said to the people of Joseph, to Ephraim, and to Manasseh, “But there are many, many of you. And you are very powerful. You should get more than one share of the land. ¹⁸You will take the hill country. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. And you will own all of it. You will force the Canaanite people to leave that land. You will defeat them even if they are strong and have powerful weapons.”

The father of Gilead Or, “the leader of the area of Gilead.” chariots Small wagons used in war. They were much faster and could carry more weapons than soldiers on foot.

Dividing the Rest of the Land

18 All of the Israelite people gathered together at Shiloh. At that place they set up the Meeting Tent.* The people of Israel controlled that country. They had defeated all the enemies in that land. ²But at this time there were still seven family groups of Israel that had not yet gotten the land God had promised them. ³So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Why do you wait so long to take your land? The Lord, the God of your fathers, has given this land to you. ⁴So each of your family groups should choose three men. I will send those men out to study the land. They will describe that land, and then they will come back to me. ⁵They will divide the land into seven parts. The people of Judah will keep their land in the south. The people of Joseph will keep their land in the north. ⁶But you should describe the land and divide it into seven parts. Bring the map to me, and we will let the Lord our God decide which family group will get which land.* ⁷The Levite people do not get a share of the land. Their share is to serve the Lord as priests. Gad, Reuben, and half the family group of Manasseh have already received the land that was promised to them. They are on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, the Lord’s servant, already gave them that land.” ⁸So the men that were chosen went to look at the land and write a description of it. Joshua told them, “Go all through the land and write a description of it. Then come back to me at Shiloh. Then I will throw lots* and let the Lord divide the land for you.” ⁹So the men went into the land. The men went all through the land and wrote a description of it for Joshua. They listed all the cities and divided the land into seven parts. Then they went back to Joshua at Shiloh. ¹⁰Joshua threw lots* for them in front of the Lord at Shiloh. In this way, Joshua divided the land and gave each family group its part of the land.

Land for Benjamin

¹¹The family group of Benjamin was given the land that was between the areas of Judah and Joseph. Each family in the family group of Benjamin got their land. This is the land that was chosen for Benjamin: ¹²The northern border started at the Jordan River. The border went along the northern edge of Jericho. Then the border went west into the hill country. The border continued until it was just east of Beth Aven. ¹³Then the border went south to Luz (Bethel). Then the border went down to Ataroth Addar. Ataroth Addar is on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon. ¹⁴At the hill south of Beth Horon, the border turned south and went along the west side of the hill. The border went to Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim). This town belonged to the people of Judah. This was the western border. ¹⁵The southern border started near Kiriath Jearim and went to the River of Nephtoah. ¹⁶Then the border went down to the bottom of the hill near the valley of Ben Hinnom, north of Rephaim Valley. The border continued down Hinnom Valley just south of the Jebusite city. Then the border went on to En Rogel. ¹⁷There, the border turned north and went to En Shemesh. The border continued to Geliloth. (Geliloth is near the Adummim Pass in the mountains.) The border went down to the Great Stone that was named for Bohan, the son of Reuben. ¹⁸The border continued to the northern part of Beth Arabah. Then the border went down into the Jordan Valley. ¹⁹Then the border went to the northern part of Beth Hoglah and ended at the north shore of the Dead Sea. This is where the Jordan River flows into that sea. That was the southern border. ²⁰The Jordan River was the eastern border. So this was the land that was given to the family group of Benjamin. Those were the borders on all sides. ²¹Each family got its land. These are their cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²²Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. There were twelve cities and their fields around them. ²⁵The family group of Benjamin also got Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. There were 14 cities and the fields around them. The family group of Benjamin got all these areas.

Meeting Tent The Holy Tent (tabernacle) where the people of Israel went to meet with God. we … land Literally, “I will throw lots here before the Lord our God. lots Sticks, stones, or pieces of bone used like dice for making decisions. See Proverbs 16:33.