Joshua 17 & 18 Yesterday & Today

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God Bless You Today, Lena B

For 5-23-07
Joshua 17
1 The next allotment of land was given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph's older son. Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan had already been given to the family of Makir because he was a great warrior. (Makir was Manasseh's oldest son and was the father of Gilead.) 2 Land on the west side of the Jordan was allotted to the remaining families within the tribe of Manasseh: Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. 3 However, Zelophehad son of Hepher, who was a descendant of Manasseh,
Makir, and Gilead, had no sons. Instead, he had five daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 These women came to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite leaders and said, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with the men of our tribe.
"So Joshua gave them an inheritance along with their uncles, as the LORD had commanded. 5 As a result, Manasseh's inheritance came to ten parcels of land, in addition to the land of Gilead and Bashan across the Jordan River, 6 because the female descendants of Manasseh received an inheritance along with the male descendants.

(The land of Gilead was given to the rest of the male descendants of Manasseh.)

7 The boundary of the tribe of Manasseh extended from the border of Asher to Micmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary went south from Micmethath to the people living near the spring of Tappuah. 8 (The land surrounding Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah, on the border of Manasseh's territory, belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.) 9 From the spring of Tappuah, the border of Manasseh followed the northern side of the Kanah Ravine to the Mediterranean Sea. F55 (Several towns in Manasseh's territory belonged to the tribe of Ephraim.) 10 The land south of the ravine belonged to Ephraim, and the land north of the ravine belonged to Manasseh, with the Mediterranean Sea forming Manasseh's western border. North of Manasseh was the territory of Asher, and to the east was the territory of Issachar. 11 The following towns within the territory of Issachar and Asher were given to Manasseh: Beth-shan, F56 Ibleam, Dor (that is, Naphoth-dor), F57 Endor, Taanach, and Megiddo, with their respective villages. 12 But the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns. They could not drive out the Canaanites who continued to live there. 13 Later on, however, when the Israelites became strong enough, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves. But they did not drive them out of the land.
14 The descendants of Joseph came to Joshua and asked, "Why have you given us only one portion of land when the LORD has given us so many people?" 15 Joshua replied, "If the hill country of Ephraim is not large enough for you, clear out land for yourselves in the forest where the Perizzites and Rephaites live." 16 They said, "The hill country is not enough for us, and the Canaanites in the lowlands around Beth-shan and the valley of Jezreel have iron chariots – they are too strong for us." 17 Then Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of Joseph, "Since you are so large and strong, you will be given more than one portion. 18 The forests of the hill country will be yours as well. Clear as much of the land as you wish and live there. And I am sure you can drive out the Canaanites from the valleys, too, even though they are strong and have iron chariots."

For 5-24-07
Joshua 18
1 Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire Israelite assembly gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle. F58
2 But there remained seven tribes who had not yet been allotted their inheritance. 3 Then Joshua asked them, "How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given to you? 4 Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to survey the unconquered territory. They will return to me with a written report of their proposed divisions of the inheritance. 5 The scouts will map the land into seven sections, excluding Judah's territory in the south and Joseph's territory in the north. 6 Then I will cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD our God to decide which section will be assigned to each tribe. 7 However, the Levites will not receive any land. Their role as priests of the LORD is their inheritance. And the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh won't receive any more land, for they have already received their inheritance, which Moses, the servant of the LORD, gave them on the east side of the Jordan River." 8 As the men who were mapping out the land started on their way, Joshua commanded them, "Go and survey the land. Then return to me with your written report, and I will assign the land to the tribes by casting sacred lots in the presence of the LORD here at Shiloh." 9 The men did as they were told and mapped the entire territory into seven sections, listing the towns in each section. Then they returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 There at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the LORD to determine which tribe should have each section.
11 The first allotment of land went to the families of the tribe of Benjamin. It lay between the territory previously assigned to the tribes of Judah and Joseph. 12 The northern boundary began at the Jordan River, went north of the slope of Jericho, then west through the hill country and the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary went south to Luz (that is, Bethel) and proceeded down to Ataroth-addar to the top of the hill south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 The boundary then ran south along the western edge of the hill facing Beth-horon, ending at the village of Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), one of the towns belonging to the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary. 15 The southern boundary began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. From there it ran westward F59 to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah, F60 16 and down to the base of the mountain beside the valley of the son of Hinnom, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. From there it went down the valley of Hinnom, crossing south of the slope where the Jebusites lived, and continued down to En-rogel. 17 From En-rogel the boundary proceeded northeast to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth (which is across from the slopes of Adummim). Then it went down to the stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben's son.) 18 From there it passed along the north side of the slope overlooking the Jordan Valley. F61 The border then went down into the valley, 19 ran past the north slope of Beth-hoglah, and ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, F62 which is the southern end of the Jordan River. 20 The eastern boundary was the Jordan River. This was the inheritance for the families of the tribe of Benjamin. 21 These were the towns given to the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba – twelve towns with their villages. 25 Also Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim F63 – fourteen towns with their villages. This was the inheritance given to the families of the tribe of Benjamin.
FOOTNOTES:
F55 Hebrew the sea; also in 17:10.
F56 Hebrew Beth-shean, a variant name for Beth-shan; also in 17:16.
F57 The meaning of the Hebrew here is uncertain.
F58 Hebrew Tent of Meeting.
F59 Or it went to Ephron, and. The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
F60 Or the spring at Me-nephtoah.
F61 Hebrew the Arabah.
F62 Hebrew Salt Sea.
F63 As in Greek version; Hebrew reads Kiriath.