Land for the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh

16 The land that was allotted to the two tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh that were descended from Joseph started at the Jordan River, east of the springs at Jericho. 2 It extended west from Jericho to the hilly area near Bethel, which is also called Luz. It extended as far as Ataroth, at the border of the land where the Arki people-group lived. 3 From there it extended west to the border of the land where the Japhleti people-group lived, and then it extended west to the area near Lower Beth-Horon. From there it extended west to Gezer city and from there to the Mediterranean Sea.

4 That is the land that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh were allotted.

5 The border of the land that was allotted to the clans of the tribe of Ephraim started at Ataroth-Addar city in the east. It extended to Upper Beth-Horon 6 and from there to the Mediterranean Sea. 7 From Michmethath on the north it extended east to Taanath and from there on to Janoah. From there it extended south to Ataroth city and to Naarah town. From there it extended to Jericho and from there to the Jordan River. 8 The northern border extended from Tappuah west to Kanah Ravine, and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. That was the land that was allotted to the tribe of Ephraim. 9 Many of those towns were really within the area allotted to the tribe of Manasseh.

10 The people of the tribe of Ephraim could not force the Canaan people-group to leave Gezer, so the Canaan people-group still live among the people of the tribe of Ephraim, but the Israelis forced the people of the Canaan people-group to become their slaves.

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

3 Hepher’s son Zelophehad had no sons, but he had five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 replied to them, “Your tribe is very numerous and very powerful. So I will allot more land for you in the hilly area, 18 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.”