Joshua 17

1 This was the allocation to the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph's firstborn son. Machir was Manasseh's firstborn son who was the father of Gilead. Because Machir had been an excellent fighter, Gilead and Bashan had already been allocated to him.

[This is a list of] the land that was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh. Manasseh’s oldest son was Makir and his grandson was Gilead. Makir’s descendants were great warriors, so the lands in the Gilead and Bashan regions were allotted to their clan.

2 The allocation was for the rest of the tribe of Manasseh, to the families of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, by families.

Land was also allotted to the other clans of the tribe of Manasseh: The clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida.

3 But Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons. He only had daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

Hepher’s son Zelophehad had no sons, but he had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

4 They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders, and told them, “The Lord ordered Moses to give us an allocation of land along with our brothers.” So Joshua allotted land to them along with their brothers, as the Lord had ordered.

They went to Eleazar the Supreme Priest, and to Joshua and to the other Israeli leaders. They said, “[We want you to give us some land, because] Yahweh told Moses that he should give to us some land, just like you gave to the men.” So Eleazar did what Yahweh had commanded, and he allotted to them some land, just like he allotted to their uncles.

5 Consequently Manasseh received ten shares of land beside the land of Gilead and Bashan on the other side of the Jordan,

So the tribe of Manasseh eventually had ten sections [of land west of the Jordan River] and [two sections, ] Gilead and Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan [River].

6 because the daughters of the tribe of Manasseh received an allocation along with the sons. (The land of Gilead had been allotted to the rest of the descendants of Manasseh).

So those female descendants of Manasseh also were allotted land [on the west side of the river] just like the men were allotted. The other parts of the Gilead area were allotted to the male descendants of Manasseh.

7 The boundary of the tribe of Manasseh ran from Asher to Michmethath, near Shechem, then south to the spring of Tappuah.

The land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh was between the land where the tribe of Asher lives and Michmethath [town], near Shechem [city]. The border extended south to the Tappuah Spring.

8 The land around Tappuah was allocated to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah, which was on the border of Manasseh's land, was allocated to Ephraim.

The land near the Tappuah area belonged to the tribe of Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah, which was at the border of the land that was allotted to the tribe of Manasseh, was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim.

9 From there the boundary ran down to the valley of Kenah. South of the valley some of the towns belonged to Ephraim among the towns of Manasseh. The boundary ran along the north side of the valley and ended at the sea.

The border [of the land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh] extended south to Kanah Gorge. From there it extended [west] along the north side of the gorge and ended at the [Mediterranean] Sea.

10 To the south the land belonged to Ephraim, and to the north, to Manasseh. The sea is the boundary. The boundary to the north was with Asher, and with Issachar to the east.

The land on the south side of the gorge belonged to the tribe of Ephraim, and the land on the north side belonged to the tribe of Manasseh. The western border of the land allotted to the tribe of Manasseh was the [Mediterranean] Sea. To the north, the border of their land extended from the land allotted to the tribe of Asher [at the northwest] to the land allotted to the tribe of Issachar [at the northeast.]

11 The following towns with their associated villages were allocated to Manasseh but lay within the land of Issachar and Asher: Beth-shan, Ibleam, Dor (on the coast), Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo.

But there are cities inside the area allotted to the tribes of Issachar and Asher. Those cities, along with their surrounding villages, were allotted to people from the tribe of Manasseh. These cities are Beth-Shan, Ibleam, Dor (which is also named Naphoth-Dor, ) Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo.

12 But the descendants of Manasseh could not take possession of these towns because the Canaanites were determined to go on occupying the land.

The men of the tribe of Manasseh were not able to force the people who lived in those cities to leave, so the people of the Canaan people-group continued to live in those cities.

13 However, later on, when the Israelites grew strong enough, they made the Canaanites do forced labor—but they did not drive them out.

But [years later] when the Israelis became better [warriors], they forced the Canaan people-group to work for them as slaves, although they did not force them to leave the land.

14 Then the descendants of Joseph came to Joshua and asked him, “Why have you given us only one allocation—only one share of the land—when there's so many of us because the Lord has blessed us so much?”

The people of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh said to Joshua, “You allotted to us only one area of land, but there are a lot of us. Yahweh has blessed us very much [with the result that our tribe has grown very large]. So why did you give us only a small part of the land [RHQ]?”

15 Joshua told them, “If there's so many of you, if the hill country of Ephraim is too small for you, then go and clear ground for yourselves from the forest in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim.”

Joshua replied to them, “[I agree that] you do not have enough land in the hilly area of the tribe of Ephraim. So, since you have a lot of people, I will allot more land to you, in the hilly region. But you will have to [cut down the trees] in the forest [and] make a place for yourselves in the land where the Periz and Repha people-groups live.”

16 The descendants of Joseph replied, “The hill country isn't big enough for us, but the Canaanites living in the lowlands have iron chariots, both those in Beth-shan and its villages, and those in the valley of Jezreel.”

The people of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh replied, “It is true that the land in the hilly area is not big enough for us, but the Canaan people-group who live in the lowlands, in Beth-Shan and the surrounding villages in that area, and in the Jezreel Valley, have iron chariots, [so we will not be able to defeat them]!”

17 Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph, “Since you are so many, and you are so strong, you will be given more than just one share.

Joshua replied to them, “Your tribe is very numerous and very powerful. So I will allot more land for you in the hilly area,

18 You will be allocated the hill country in addition. Though it is forest, you will clear it and own it, from one end to the other. You will drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots, and even though they are strong.”

but you will have to cut down the trees in order to make a place for you to live. [It is true that] the Canaan people-group are strong and have iron chariots, but you will be able to force them to leave that valley.”