Joshua 17

1 Now this lot fell to the tribe of Manasseh, since he is the firstborn of Joseph: to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, who was a fighting man, and he had as a possession Gilead and Bashan;

And this was the part marked out for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was the oldest son of Joseph. As for Machir, the oldest son of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war he had Gilead and Bashan.

2 and to the rest of the sons of Manasseh, according to their families: to the sons of Abiezer, and to the sons of Helek, and to the sons of Asriel, and to the sons of Shechem, and to the sons of Hepher, and to the sons of Shemida. These are the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the males, by their families.

And as for the rest of the children of Manasseh, their heritage was given to them by families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, by their families.

3 Yet truly, Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, whose names are these: Mahlah and Noah and Hoglah and Milcah and Tirzah.

But 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, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4 And they went before the sight of Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the leaders, saying: “The Lord instructed by the hand of Moses that a possession ought to be given to us, in the midst of our brothers.” And so, he gave to them, in accord with the order of the Lord, a possession in the midst of the brothers of their father.

And they came before Eleazar the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and before the chiefs, saying, The Lord gave orders to Moses to give us a heritage among our brothers: so in agreement with the orders of the Lord he gave them a heritage among their father's brothers.

5 And by lot, there fell ten portions to Manasseh, aside from the land of Gilead and Bashan beyond the Jordan.

And ten parts were given to Manasseh, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of Jordan;

6 And so the daughters of Manasseh possessed an inheritance in the midst of his sons. But the land of Gilead fell by lot to the sons of Manasseh that were left.

Because the daughters of Manasseh had a heritage among his sons, and the land of Gilead was the property of the other sons of Manasseh.

7 And the border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which looks out toward Shechem. And it goes out, to the right, beside the inhabitants of the Fountain of Tappuah.

And the limit of Manasseh's land was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem; the line goes on to the right hand, to the people of En-tappuah.

8 For by lot, there also fell to Manasseh the land of Tappuah, which is beside the borders of Manasseh, and which belongs to the sons of Ephraim.

The land of Tappuah was the property of Manasseh; but Tappuah on the edge of Manasseh was the property of the children of Ephraim.

9 And the border descends to the Valley of Reeds, to the south of the torrent of the cities of Ephraim, which are in the midst of the cities of Manasseh. The border of Manasseh is to the north of the torrent, and its exit extends to the sea.

And the limit goes down to the stream Kanah, to the south of the stream: these towns were Ephraim's among the towns of Manasseh; Manasseh's limit was on the north side of the stream, ending at the sea:

10 So it is that the possession of Ephraim is in the south, and that of Manasseh is in the north, and both are enclosed by the sea, and they are joined together by the tribe of Asher to the north, and by the tribe of Issachar to the east.

To the south it is Ephraim's, and to the north it is Manasseh's, and the sea is his limit; and they are touching Asher on the north, and Issachar on the east.

11 And the inheritance of Manasseh, in Issachar and in Asher, was Bethshean and its villages, and Ibleam with its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor, with their towns, likewise the inhabitants of Endor with their villages, and similarly the inhabitants of Taanach with their villages, and the inhabitants of Megiddo with their villages, and one third part of the city of Naphath.

In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its daughter-towns, and Ibleam and its daughter-towns, and the people of Dor and its daughter-towns, and the people of En-dor and its daughter-towns, and the people of Taanach and its daughter-towns, and the people of Megiddo and its daughter-towns, that is, the three hills.

12 The sons of Manasseh were not able to overthrow these cities, and so the Canaanite began to dwell in their land.

But the children of Manasseh were not able to make the people of those towns go out; but the Canaanites would go on living in that land.

13 But after the sons of Israel had grown strong, they subdued the Canaanites, and made them their tributaries, but they did not kill them.

And when the children of Israel had become strong, they put the Canaanites to forced work, in place of driving them out.

14 And the sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, and they said, “Why have you given to me as a possession one lot and one portion, while I am of such a great multitude, and the Lord has blessed me?”

Then the children of Joseph said to Joshua, Why have you given me only one part and one stretch of land for my heritage? For through the blessing given to me by the Lord up to now, I am a great people.

15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up into the forest, and cut out space for yourself in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the possession of mount Ephraim is too narrow for you.”

Then Joshua said to them, If you are such a great people, go up into the woodlands, clearing a place there for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, if the hill-country of Ephraim is not wide enough for you.

16 And the sons of Joseph responded to him: “We are not able to ascend to the mountains, since the Canaanites, who live in the plains, in which are situated Bethshean, with its villages, and Jezreel, possessing the middle of the valley, use chariots of iron.”

And the children of Joseph said, The hill-country is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites living in the valley have iron war-carriages, those in Beth-shean and its towns as well as those in the valley of Jezreel.

17 And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh: “You are a numerous people, and you have great strength. You shall not have only one lot.

Then Joshua said to the children of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, You are a great people, and have great power: you are not to have one property only,

18 Instead, you shall cross to the mountain, and you shall cut down and clear out for yourselves space in which to live. And you shall be able to advance further, when you will have destroyed the Canaanite, who, as you say, has iron chariots and is very strong.”

For the hill-country of Gilead will be yours ... the woodland and cut down ... its outskirts will be yours ... get the Canaanites out, for they have iron war-carriages ... strong.