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 then came the lot for the tribe of Menasseh; for he was the first-born of Joseph: to wit, for Machir the first-born of Menasseh, the father of Gil'ad; because he was a man of war, therefore he obtained Gil'ad 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.

There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Menasseh after their families; for the children of Abi'ezer, and for the children of Chelek, and for the children of Assriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Chepher, and for the children of Shemida': these were the male children of Menasseh the son of Joseph after 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 Zelophchad, the son of Chepher, the son of Gil'ad, the son of Machir, the son of Menasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters, Machlah, and No'ah, Choglah, 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 near before Elazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give unto us an inheritance among our brethren. And he gave them, according to the order of the Lord, an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

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

And there fell ten portions of Menasseh, beside the lands of Gil'ad and Bashan, which were on the other side of the 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 Menasseh obtained an inheritance among his sons: and the land of Gil'ad belonged to the rest of the 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 boundary of Menasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, that lieth before Shechem; and the boundary went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of 'En-tappuach.

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.

To Menasseh belonged the land of Tappuach; but Tappuach on the borders of Menasseh belonged to 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 boundary descended unto the brook Kanah, southward of the brook; these cities belonging to Ephraim are in the midst of the cities of Menasseh; and the boundary of Menasseh was on the north side of the river, and its terminations were toward 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.

Southward it was Ephraim's, and northward it was Menasseh's, and the sea was [there] his boundary; and on Asher they touched on the north, and on 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.

And to Menasseh belonged in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and its towns, and Yible'am and its towns, together with the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of 'En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Ta'anach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, namely the three districts.

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

Yet the children of Menasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of these cities; but the Canaanites succeeded to dwell in this 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.

Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were become strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but they did not drive 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?”

And the children of Joseph spoke unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion as an inheritance, seeing I am a numerous people, to which extent the Lord hath hitherto blessed me?

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.”

And Joshua said unto them, If thou art a numerous people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down [a space] for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, if the mountain of Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

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 mountain will not be enough for us; and chariots of iron are belonging to all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley, to those who are at Beth-shean and its towns, and to those who are in the valley of Yizre'el.

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.

And Joshua said unto the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Menasseh, as followeth, Thou art a numerous people, and hast great power; thou shalt not have one lot 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.”

But the mountain shall be thine; it is indeed a wood, yet thou canst cut it down; and the terminations of it shall be thine; for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, though they be strong.