Joshua 17:1–18

¹And the lot came to be for the tribe of Ma‧nas′seh, because he was Joseph’s firstborn, for Ma′chir the firstborn of Ma‧nas′seh, the father of Gil′e‧ad, because he was one who proved to be a man of war; and Gil′e‧ad and Ba′shan came to belong to him.²And there came to be [a lot] for the sons of Ma‧nas′seh who were left over according to their families, for the sons of Abi‐e′zer and the sons of He′lek and the sons of As′ri‧el and the sons of She′chem and the sons of He′pher and the sons of She‧mi′da. These were the sons of Ma‧nas′seh the son of Joseph, the males according to their families.³As for Ze‧lo′phe‧had the son of He′pher, the son of Gil′e‧ad, the son of Ma′chir, the son of Ma‧nas′seh, he proved to have, not sons, but daughters, and these were the names of his daughters: Mah′lah and Noah, Hog′lah, Mil′cah and Tir′zah.⁴So they presented themselves before El‧e‧a′zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the chieftains, saying: “Jehovah it was who commanded Moses to give us an inheritance in the midst of our brothers.” Accordingly he gave them, at the order of Jehovah, an inheritance in the midst of the brothers of their father.

⁵And there were ten allotments falling to Ma‧nas′seh apart from the land of Gil′e‧ad and Ba′shan, which were on the other side of the Jordan;⁶for the daughters of Ma‧nas′seh came into an inheritance in the midst of his sons; and the land of Gil′e‧ad became the property of the sons of Ma‧nas′seh who were left over.

⁷And the boundary of Ma‧nas′seh came to be from Ash′er to Mich‧me′thath, which is in front of She′chem, and the boundary moved to the right to the inhabitants of En‐Tap′pu‧ah.⁸The land of Tap′pu‧ah became Ma‧nas′seh’s, but Tap′pu‧ah at the boundary of Ma‧nas′seh belonged to the sons of E′phra‧im.⁹And the boundary went down to the torrent valley of Ka′nah, southward to the torrent valley of these cities of E′phra‧im in the midst of the cities of Ma‧nas′seh, and the boundary of Ma‧nas′seh was on the north of the torrent valley, and its termination came to be at the sea.¹⁰To the south it was E′phra‧im’s and to the north, Ma‧nas′seh’s, and the sea came to be his boundary; and on the north they reach to Ash′er and on the east, to Is′sa‧char.

¹¹And there came to belong to Ma‧nas′seh in Is′sa‧char and in Ash′er Beth‐she′an and its dependent towns and Ib′le‧am and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of Dor and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of En‐dor and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of Ta′a‧nach and its dependent towns and the inhabitants of Me‧gid′do and its dependent towns, three of the heights.

¹²And the sons of Ma‧nas′seh did not prove able to take possession of these cities, but the Ca′naan‧ites persisted in dwelling in this land.¹³And it turned out that when the sons of Israel had grown strong, they went putting the Ca′naan‧ites at forced labor, and they did not dispossess them entirely.

¹⁴And the sons of Joseph proceeded to speak with Joshua, saying: “Why is it that you have given me as an inheritance one lot and one allotment, whereas I am a numerous people for the reason that Jehovah has blessed me until now?”¹⁵At this Joshua said to them: “If you are a numerous people, go your way up to the forest, and you must cut it down for yourself there in the land of the Per′iz‧zites and the Reph′a‧im, because the mountainous region of E′phra‧im has become too narrow for you.”¹⁶Then the sons of Joseph said: “The mountainous region is not enough for us, and there are war chariots with iron scythes among all the Ca′naan‧ites dwelling in the land of the low plain, both those who are in Beth‐she′an and its dependent towns and those who are in the low plain of Jez′re‧el.”¹⁷So Joshua said this to the house of Joseph, to E′phra‧im and Ma‧nas′seh: “A numerous people you are, and great power is yours. You ought not to get one lot,¹⁸but the mountainous region should become yours. Because it is a forest, you must cut it down, and it must become the termination point for you. For you should drive away the Ca′naan‧ites, although they have war chariots with iron scythes and they are strong.”