Daily Text and Bible Reading: Thursday, March 13 [Press play below]

16.1 And the land that fell by lot to the descendants of Joseph was from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters east of Jericho, through the wilderness going up from Jericho into the mountainous region of Bethel.
16.2 It extended from Bethel belonging to Luz and continued to the boundary of the Archites at Ataroth,
16.3 then it went down westward to the boundary of the Japhletites as far as the boundary of Lower Beth-horon and Gezer, and it ended at the sea.
16.4 So Joseph’s descendants, Manasseh and Ephraim, took possession of their land.
16.5 The boundary of the descendants of Ephraim by their families was as follows: The boundary of their inheritance to the east was Ataroth-addar, as far as Upper Beth-horon,
16.6 and the boundary extended to the sea. Michmethath was on the north, and the boundary went around east to Taanath-shiloh, and it passed on the east to Janoah.
16.7 Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and Naarah and reached to Jericho and extended to the Jordan.
16.8 From Tappuah the boundary continued westward to the Wadi of Kanah, and it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Ephraim by their families;
16.9 the descendants of Ephraim also had enclave cities in the midst of the inheritance of Manasseh, all the cities and their settlements.
16.10 But they did not drive away the Canaanites who were dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanites continue to dwell among Ephraim to this day and have been subjected to forced labor.
17.1 Then the lot fell for the tribe of Manasseh, because he was Joseph’s firstborn. Since Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, was a man of war, he received Gilead and Bashan.
17.2 And the lot fell for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh according to their families, for the sons of Abi-ezer, the sons of Helek, the sons of Asriel, the sons of Shechem, the sons of Hepher, and the sons of Shemida. These were the descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the males according to their families.
17.3 But Zelophehad the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, did not have sons, only daughters, and these were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
17.4 So they presented themselves before Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the chieftains, saying: “It was Jehovah who commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So at the order of Jehovah, he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father.
17.5 There were also ten allotments that fell to Manasseh apart from the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other side of the Jordan,
17.6 for the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons, and the land of Gilead became the property of the rest of the descendants of Manasseh.
17.7 And the boundary of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which faces Shechem, and the boundary continued toward the south to the land of the inhabitants of En-Tappuah.
17.8 The land of Tappuah became Manasseh’s, but Tappuah on Manasseh’s boundary belonged to the descendants of Ephraim.
17.9 And the boundary went down to the Wadi of Kanah, south of the wadi. There were cities of Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh, and the boundary of Manasseh was on the north of the wadi, and it ended at the sea.
17.10 To the south it belonged to Ephraim, and to the north it belonged to Manasseh, and the sea was his boundary, and on the north they reached to Asher, and on the east, to Issachar.
17.11 In the territories of Issachar and Asher, Manasseh was given Beth-shean and its dependent towns, Ibleam and its dependent towns, the inhabitants of Dor and its dependent towns, the inhabitants of En-dor and its dependent towns, the inhabitants of Taanach and its dependent towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its dependent towns, three of the heights.
17.12 But the descendants of Manasseh were not able to take possession of these cities; the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in this land.
17.13 When the Israelites grew strong, they subjected the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out entirely.
17.14 The descendants of Joseph said to Joshua: “Why have you given us as an inheritance only one lot and one allotment? We are a numerous people, for Jehovah has blessed us until now.”
17.15 Joshua replied to them: “If you are such a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear out a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the mountainous region of Ephraim is too cramped for you.”
17.16 Then the descendants of Joseph said: “The mountainous region is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who are dwelling in the land of the valley have war chariots with iron scythes, both those in Beth-shean and its dependent towns and those in the Valley of Jezreel.”
17.17 So Joshua said this to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh: “You are a numerous people, and you have great power. You will not receive only one lot,
17.18 but the mountainous region will also be yours. Although it is a forest, you will clear it, and it will be the extremity of your territory. For you will drive away the Canaanites, even though they are strong and have war chariots with iron scythes.”
18.1 Then all the assembly of the Israelites congregated at Shiloh, and they set up the tent of meeting there, as the land was now subdued before them.
18.2 But there were still seven tribes left of the Israelites whose inheritance had not been allotted.
18.3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land that Jehovah the God of your forefathers has given you?
18.4 Give me three men from each tribe to send out; they should go out and walk throughout the land and map it out according to their inheritance. Then they should return to me.
18.5 They must apportion it among themselves into seven shares. Judah will remain in his territory to the south, and the house of Joseph will remain in their territory to the north.
18.6 As for you, map out the land into seven shares, and bring them here to me, and I will cast lots here for you before Jehovah our God.
18.7 But the Levites will not be given a share among you, because the priesthood of Jehovah is their inheritance; and Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh have already taken their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave them.”
18.8 The men prepared to go, and Joshua commanded those who were to map out the land: “Go and walk through the land and map it out and return to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Jehovah in Shiloh.”
18.9 With that the men went and traveled through the land and mapped it out by cities into seven shares, recording it in a book. After that they returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.
18.10 Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh before Jehovah. There Joshua apportioned the land to the Israelites by their shares.
18.11 The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin by their families, and the territory of their lot was between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph.
18.12 On the north side, their boundary started at the Jordan, and the boundary went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and went up on the mountain westward, and it extended to the wilderness of Beth-aven.
18.13 And the boundary continued from there to Luz, at the southern slope of Luz, that is, Bethel; the boundary went down to Ataroth-addar on the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-horon.
18.14 And the boundary was marked at the western side and went around toward the south from the mountain that faces Beth-horon to the south; it ended at Kiriath-baal, that is, Kiriath-jearim, a city of Judah. This is the western side.
18.15 The south side was from the extremity of Kiriath-jearim, and the boundary extended westward; it went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.
18.16 The boundary went down to the extremity of the mountain that faces the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is in the Valley of Rephaim to the north, and it went down to the Valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite on the south, and down to En-rogel.
18.17 And it was marked northward and extended to En-shemesh and then out to Geliloth, which is in front of the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.
18.18 And it continued to the northern slope in front of the Arabah and went down to the Arabah.
18.19 And the boundary continued to the northern slope of Beth-hoglah, and the boundary ended at the northern bay of the Salt Sea at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.
18.20 And the Jordan served as its boundary on the eastern side. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin by their families, according to its boundaries on all sides.
18.21 And the cities of the tribe of Benjamin by their families were: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,
18.22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
18.23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
18.24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—12 cities and their settlements.
18.25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
18.26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,
18.27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
18.28 Zelah, Ha-eleph, Jebusi, that is, Jerusalem, Gibeah, and Kiriath—14 cities and their settlements. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Benjamin by their families.