CHAPTER 17
1 Forsooth lot felled to the lineage of Manasseh, for he is the first engendered son of Joseph; lot felled to Machir, the first engendered son of Manasseh, to the father of Gilead, that was a warrior, and he had [the] possession Gilead and Bashan.
2 And lot felled to the others of the sons of Manasseh, by their meines; 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 be the sons of Manasseh, the son of Joseph, the male children, by their meines.
3 But to Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, there were not sons, but daughters alone; of which these be the names, Mahlah, and Noah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Tirzah.
4 And they came in the sight of Eleazar, [the] priest, and of Joshua, [the] son of Nun, and of the princes, and said, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that possession should be given to us in the midst of our brethren. And Joshua gave to them possession, by the commandment of the Lord, in the midst of the brethren of their father.
5 And ten cords, that is, lands measured by ten cords, felled to Manasseh, without the land of Gilead and Bashan, beyond Jordan;
6 for the daughters of Manasseh wielded heritage in the midst of the sons of him. For the land of Gilead felled into the part of the sons of Manasseh, that were left alive.
7 And the term of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethah, that beholdeth Shechem, and it goeth forth to the right side, beside the dwellers of the well Tappuah;
8 for the land of Tappuah, which is beside the terms of Manasseh, and of the sons of Ephraim, felled in the lot of Manasseh.
9 And the term of the valley of the place of reeds goeth down in the south of the strand [or stream] of the cities of Ephraim, that be in the midst of the cities of Manasseh. The term of Manasseh is from the north of the strand [or stream], and the going out thereof goeth to the sea;
10 so that the possession of Ephraim is from the south, and the possession of Manasseh is from the north, and the sea closeth ever either; and those possessions be joined to themselves in the lineage of Asher from the north, and in the lineage of Issachar from the east.
11 And the heritage of Manasseh was in Issachar and in Asher, Bethshean, and the towns thereof, and Ibleam, with his towns, and the dwellers of Dor, with their cities, and the dwellers of Endor, with their towns, and also the dwellers of Taanach, with their towns, and the dwellers of Megiddo, with their towns, and the third part of the city Naphath*.
12 And the sons of Manasseh might not destroy these cities, but Canaanites began to dwell in this land.
13 And after that the sons of Israel had waxed strong, they made subject Canaanites, and they made them tributaries to themselves, and they killed them not.
14 And the sons of Joseph spake to Joshua, and said, Why hast thou given to me land into possession of one lot and [one] part, since I am of so great multitude, and the Lord hath blessed me, that is, hath alarged me in children?
15 To whom Joshua said, If thou art a much people, go thou up into the wood, and cut down to thee spaces in the land of Perizzites, and of Rephaim, for the possession of the hill of Ephraim is strait to thee.
16 To whom the sons of Joseph answered, We may not ascend [or go up] to the hilly places, since Canaanites, that dwell in the land of the field, use iron chariots; in which land Bethshean, with his towns, and Jezreel, wielding the middle valley, be set.
17 And Joshua said to the house of Joseph, and of Ephraim, and of Manasseh, Thou art [a] much people, and of great strength; thou shalt not have one lot,
18 but thou shalt pass to the hill, and thou shalt cut down to thee trees; and thou shalt cleanse spaces to dwell in. And thou shalt be able to go forth further, when thou hast destroyed Canaanites, whom thou sayest to have iron chariots, and to be most strong.
* CHAPTER 17:11 The Hebrew meaning of this phrase, ‘and the third part of the city Naphath’, is unclear; other possibilities include: ‘even the three countries, or regions’, ‘even the three heights’, and ‘and the third is Naphath, that is, the hills of Dor’.