Joshua 17

¹And this lot fell to the tribe of Manasses for he is the firstborn of Joseph to Machir the firstborn of Manasses the father of Galaad, who was a warlike man, and had for possession Galaad and Basan.

²And to the rest of the children of Manasses according to their families: to the children of Abiezer, and to the children of Helec, and to the children of Esriel, and to the children of Sechem, and to the children of Hepher, and to the children of Semida: these are the male children of Manasses the son of Joseph, by their kindreds.

³But Salphaad the son of Hepher the son of Galaad the son of Machir the son of Manasses had no sons, but only daughters: whose names are these, Maala and Noa and Hegla and Melcha and Thersa.

⁴And they came in the presence of Eleazar the priest and of Joshua the son of Nun, and of the princes, saying: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that a possession should be given us in the midst of our brethren. And he gave them according to the commandment of the Lord a possession amongst the brethren of their father.

⁵And there fell ten portions to Manasses, beside the land of Galaad and Basan beyond the Jordan.

⁶For the daughters of Manasses possessed inheritance in the midst of his sons. And the land of Galaad fell to the lot of the rest of the children of Manasses.

⁷And the border of Manasses was from Aser, Machmethath which looketh towards Sichem: and it goeth out on the right hand by the inhabitants of the fountain of Taphua.

⁸For the lot of Manasses took in the land of Taphua, which is on the borders of Manasses, and belongs to the children of Ephraim.

⁹And the border goeth down to the valley of the reeds, to the south of the torrent of the cities of Ephraim, which are in the midst of the cities of Manasses: the border of Manasses is on the north side of the torrent, and the outgoings of it are at the sea:

¹⁰So that the possession of Ephraim is on the south, and on the north that of Manasses, and the sea is the border of both, and they are joined together in the tribe of Aser on the north, and in the tribe of Issachar on the east.

¹¹And the inheritance of Manasses in Issachar and in Aser, was Bethsan and its villages, and Jeblaam with its villages, and the inhabitants of Dor, with the towns thereof: the inhabitants also of Endor with the villages thereof: and in like manner the inhabitants of Thenac with the villages thereof: and the inhabitants of Mageddo with their villages, and the third part of the city of Nopheth.

¹²Neither could the children of Manasses overthrow these cities, but the Chanaanite began to dwell in his land.

¹³But after that the children of Israel were grown strong, they subdued the Chanaanites, and made them their tributaries, and they did not kill them.

¹⁴And the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua, and said: Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to possess, whereas I am of so great a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed me?

¹⁵And Joshua said to them: If thou be a great people, go up into the woodland, and cut down room for thyself in the land of the Pherezite and the Raphaims: because the possession of mount Ephraim is too narrow for thee.

¹⁶And the children of Joseph answered him: We cannot go up to the mountains, for the Chanaanites that dwell in the low lands, wherein are situate Bethsan with its towns, and Jezrael in the midst of the valley, have chariots of iron.

¹⁷And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasses: Thou art a great people, and of great strength, thou shalt not have one lot only:

¹⁸But thou shalt pass to the mountain, and shalt cut down the wood, and make thyself room to dwell in: and mayst proceed farther, when thou hast destroyed the Chanaanites, who as thou sayest have iron chariots, and are very strong.

Joshua 17

¹There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph; to wit, for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead: because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

²There was also a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh by their 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.

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

⁴And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren. Therefore according to the commandment of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

⁵And there fell ten portions to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side Jordan;

⁶Because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the rest of Manasseh’s sons had the land of Gilead.

⁷And the coast of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that lieth before Shechem; and the border went along on the right hand unto the inhabitants of En–tappuah.

⁸Now Manasseh had the land of Tappuah: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim;

⁹And the coast descended unto the river Kanah, southward of the river: these cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh: the coast of Manasseh also was on the north side of the river, and the outgoings of it were at the sea:

¹⁰Southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea is his border; and they met together in Asher on the north, and in Issachar on the east.

¹¹And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth–shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Endor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even three countries.

¹²Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

¹³Yet it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute; but did not utterly drive them out.

¹⁴And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto?

¹⁵And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.

¹⁶And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Beth–shean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.

¹⁷And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:

¹⁸But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.