Hello, this is Father Paul and I'm glad we're taking this journey together to read the Bible
in a year.
Today's reading is from Joshua chapter 17 through 19.
Chapter 17 There was also a lot for the tribe of Manasseh,
for he was the firstborn of Joseph, namely for Makir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father
of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he was given Gilead and Bashan.
And there was a lot for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families, for
the children of Abiezer, the children of Helik, the children of Asriel, the children of Shechem,
the children of Hefer, and the children of Shemeda.
These were the male children of Manasseh, the son of Joseph according to their families.
But Zeal of Edad, the son of Hefer, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh,
had no sons but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters.
Makla, Noah, Hogla, Milka, and Tirza.
And they came near before Eliezer the priest, before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the
rulers saying, The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.
Therefore according to the commandment of the Lord, he gave them an inheritance among
their father's brothers.
Ten shares fell to Manasseh besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which were on the other
side of the Jordan, because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among
his sons, and the rest of Manasseh's sons had the land of Gilead.
And the territory of Manasseh was from Asher to Mechmetot that lies east of Shechem, and
the border went along south to the inhabitants of Ain Tapwa.
Manasseh had the land of Tapwa, but Tapwa on the border of Manasseh belonged to the
children of Ephraim, and the border descended to the brook Kana, southward to the brook.
These cities of Ephraim are among the cities of Manasseh.
The border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and it ended at the sea.
Southward it was Ephraim's, northward it was Manasseh's, and the sea was its border.
Manasseh's territory was adjoining Asher on the north and Issachar on the east, and
in Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Bechin and its towns, Ibleem and its towns, the inhabitants
of Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Ain Dor and its towns, the inhabitants of Tanak
and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, three hilly regions.
Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities, but the
Canaanites were determined to dwell in that land, and it happened when the children of
Israel grew strong that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but did not utterly drive
them out.
Then the children of Joseph spoke to Joshua saying, Why have you given us only one lot
and one share to inherit, since we are a great people, inasmuch as the Lord has blessed us
until now?
So Joshua answered them, If you are a great people, then go up to the forest country and
clear a place for yourself there in the land of the parasites and the giants, since the
mountains of Ephraim are too confined for you.
But the children of Joseph said, The mountain country is not enough for us, and all the
Canaanites who dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both those who are
of Bechin and its towns, and those who are of the valley of Jezreel.
Then Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, You are a great
people and have great power, you shall not only have one lot, but the mountain country
shall be yours, although it is wooded, you shall cut it down, and its farthest extent
shall be yours, for you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots
and are strong.
Chapter 18 Now the whole congregation of the children
of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle of meeting there, and
the land was subdued before them.
But there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes which had not yet received their
inheritance.
Then Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long will you neglect to go and possess
the land which the Lord God of your fathers has given you?
Pick out from among you three men for each tribe, and I will send them.
They shall rise and go through the land, survey it according to their inheritance and come
back to me, and they shall divide it into seven parts.
Israel shall remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain
in their territory on the north.
You shall therefore survey the land in seven parts and bring the survey here to me, that
I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God.
But the Levites have no part among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance,
and Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the
Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.
Then the men arose to go away, and Joshua charged those who went to survey the land,
saying, Go, walk through the land, survey it, and come back to me, that I may cast lots
for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.
So the men went, passed through the land, and wrote the survey in a book in seven parts
by cities, and they came to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.
Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land
to the children of Israel according to their divisions.
Now the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families,
and the territory of their lot came out between the children of Judah and the children of
Joseph.
Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, and the border went up to the side
of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward.
It ended at the wilderness of Beit Abin.
The border went over from there toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Bethel, southward,
and the border descended to Ataroth Adar.
There the hill that lies on the south side of lower Bethuron.
Then the border extended around the west side to the south, from the hill that lies before
Bethuron southward, and it ended at Kirjas Baal, which is Kirjas Jerim, a city of the
children of Judah.
This was the west side.
The south side began at the end of Kirjas Jerim, and the border extended on the west
and went out to the spring of the waters of Neftuah.
Then the border came down to the end of the mountain that lies before the valley of the
son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of the Rephaim on the north, descended to the valley
of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite city on the south, and descended to Ein Rogel.
And it went around from the north, went out to Ein Shemesh, and extended toward Geliloth,
which is before the ascent of Adumim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of
Reuben.
Then it passed along toward the north side of Araba, and went down to Araba, and the
border passed along to the north side of Beit Hogla.
Then the border ended at the north bay at the salt sea, at the south end of the Jordan.
This was the southern boundary.
The Jordan was its border on the east side.
This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to its boundaries all around,
according to their families.
Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were
Jericho, Beit Hogla, Emek Kiziz, Beit Araba, Zemarim, Bethel, Avim, Para, Ofra, Kifar Hamuni,
Ofni, and Gabba.
12 cities with their villages.
Gibyan, Rama, Beirut, Mizba, Kifira, Moza, Rekem, Erpil, Tarala, Zeila, Elif, Jebus,
which is Jerusalem, Gibyat, and Kirjat, 14 cities with their villages.
This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
Chapter 19.
The second Lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according
to their families, and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of
Judah.
They had in their inheritance Bir Sheba, Mulada, Hazar Shual, Bala, Ezem, El Tulaad, Betul,
Horma, Ziklag, Beit Markabut, Hazar Sousa, Beit Leboet, and Cherokin, 13 cities and their
villages.
Ein, Ramon, Etair, and Ashan, 4 cities and their villages, and all the villages that
were all around these cities as far as Balad Beir.
Rama of the south.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.
The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children
of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was too much for them.
Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of that
people.
The third Lot came out for the children of Zabalun according to their families, and the
border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid.
Their border went toward the west, and to Marala went to Dabashit and extended along
the brook that is east of Joknim.
Then from Sarid it went eastward, toward the sunrise along the border of Sislot-Tabor,
and went toward Dabirat bypassing Jaffia.
And from there it passed along on the east of Gad-Hephir toward Eitkatin and extended
to Ramon which borders on Niyah.
Then the border went around it on the north side of Hanatun, and it ended in the valley
of Yeftayel.
Third were Kata, Nalal, Shimran, Idala, and Bethlehem, twelve cities with their villages.
This was the inheritance of the children of Zabalun according to their families, these
cities with their villages.
The fourth Lot came out to Issachar for the children of Issachar according to their families.
And their territory went to Jezreel and included Kessalot, Shunem, Hafraim, Shion, Anaarat,
Rabit, Kishion, Abez, Remait, Ein Ganim, Ein Hada, and Beth Pazez.
And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazima, and Beth Shemesh.
Their border ended at the Jordan, sixteen cities with their villages.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families,
the cities and their villages.
The fifth Lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.
And their territory included Helkat, Hali, Betayn, Akhshaf, Alam Malik, Amad, and Mishel.
It reached to Mount Carmel westward along the brook Shehor-Lebnat.
It turned toward the sunrise to Beit Dagon and it reached to Zabalun and to the valley
of Jifta-Ael.
Then northward beyond Beit Emek and Niayel, bypassing Kabul which was on the left including
Ebron, Rehab, Hamon, and Cana as far as greater Sidon.
And the border turned to Rama and to the fortified city of Tyre.
Then the border turned to Hosa and ended at the sea by the region of Aqzeb.
Also Uma, Afik, and Rehab were included, twenty-two cities with their villages.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families,
these cities with their villages.
The sixth lot came out to the children of Naftali, for the children of Naftali according to their
families and their border began at Halif enclosing the territory from the turban tree in Zananeem,
Adami-Nikeb, and Jabnil as far as Lakoum.
It ended at the Jordan.
From Halif the border extended westward to Aznot-Tabor and went out from there toward
Hukok.
It adjoined Zabalun on the south side and Asher on the west side and ended at Judah
by the Jordan toward the sunrise.
And the fortified cities are Zidim, Zeir, Hamat, Rakat, Shinaret, Adama, Rama, Hazor,
Kedish, Idri, En-Hazor, Iran, Migdal-Eil, Horem, Beit-Anat, and Beit-Shemesh.
Nineteen cities with their villages.
This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naftali according to their families,
the cities and their villages.
The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families,
and the territory of their inheritance was Zora, Isht'aul, Irshemesh, Shalabin, Aijalon,
Jetla, Elon, Timna, Ekran, El-Teka, Gibbeton, Balat, Jihud, Bene-Barak, Gatrimon, Mejarcon,
and Rakon with the region near Jopa.
And the border of the children of Dan went beyond these because the children of Dan went
up to fight against Leshem and took it, and they struck it with the edge of the sword,
took possession of it and dwelt in it.
They called Leshem Dan after the name of Dan their father.
This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families,
these cities with their villages.
When they had made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their
borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun, a court
official.
According to the word of the Lord, they gave him the city which he asked for, Timna, Sarah,
in the mountains of Ephraim, and he built the city and dwelt in it.
These were the inheritances which Eliezer the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the
heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance
by Lot in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting.
So they made an end of dividing the country.
I hope you enjoyed today's reading as much as I did and I look forward to seeing you
again tomorrow to continue on our journey.
God bless you and have a great day.