Land for Judah

15 The land that was given to the tribe of Judah was divided among all the family groups. It went all the way to the Desert of Zin in the far south, at the border of Edom.

² The southern border of Judah’s land started at the south end of the Dead Sea ³ and went south of Scorpion Pass to Zin. From there it passed to the south of Kadesh Barnea and continued past Hezron to Addar. From Addar it turned and went to Karka. ⁴ It continued to Azmon, the brook of Egypt, and then to the Mediterranean Sea. This was the southern border.

⁵ The eastern border was the shore of the Dead Sea, as far as the mouth of the Jordan River.

The northern border started at the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan River. ⁶ Then it went to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah to the stone of Bohan son of Reuben. ⁷ Then the northern border went through the Valley of Achor to Debir where it turned toward the north and went to Gilgal. Gilgal is across from the road that goes through Adummim Pass, on the south side of the ravine. The border continued to the waters of En Shemesh and stopped at En Rogel. ⁸ Then it went through the Valley of Ben Hinnom, next to the southern side of the Jebusite city (which is called Jerusalem). There the border went to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley, at the northern end of the Valley of Giants. ⁹ From there it went to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah and then it went to the cities near Mount Ephron. There it turned and went toward Baalah, which is called Kiriath Jearim. ¹⁰ At Baalah the border turned west and went toward Mount Seir. It continued along the north side of Mount Jearim (also called Kesalon) and came to Beth Shemesh. From there it went past Timnah ¹¹ to the hill north of Ekron. Then it turned toward Shikkeron and went past Mount Baalah and continued on to Jabneel, ending at the sea.

¹² The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. Inside these borders lived the family groups of Judah.

¹³ The Lord had commanded Joshua to give Caleb son of Jephunneh part of the land in Judah, so he gave Caleb the town of Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹⁴ Caleb forced out the three Anakite families living in Hebron: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. ¹⁵ Then he left there and went to fight against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir had been called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹⁶ Caleb said, “I will give Acsah, my daughter, as a wife to the man who attacks and captures the city of Kiriath Sepher.” ¹⁷ Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, captured the city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁸ When Acsah came to Othniel, she told him to ask her father for a field.

So Acsah went to her father. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

¹⁹ Acsah answered, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in southern Canaan, also give me springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

²⁰ The tribe of Judah got the land God had promised them. Each family group got part of the land.

²¹ The tribe of Judah got all these towns in the southern part of Canaan near the border of Edom: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²² Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³ Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴ Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵ Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (also called Hazor), ²⁶ Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷ Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, ²⁸ Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹ Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰ Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, ³¹ Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³² Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. There were twenty-nine towns and their villages.

³³ The tribe of Judah got these towns in the western hills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴ Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵ Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶ Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (also called Gederothaim). There were fourteen towns and their villages.

³⁷ Judah was also given these towns in the western hills: Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, ³⁸ Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, ³⁹ Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰ Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, ⁴¹ Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah. There were sixteen towns and their villages.

⁴² Judah was also given these towns in the western hills: Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³ Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴ Keilah, Aczib, and Mareshah. There were nine towns and their villages.

⁴⁵ The tribe of Judah was also given these towns: Ekron and all the small towns and villages near it; ⁴⁶ the area west of Ekron and all the villages and small towns near Ashdod; ⁴⁷ Ashdod and the small towns and villages around it; the villages and small towns around Gaza as far as the brook of Egypt and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴⁸ The tribe of Judah was also given these towns in the mountains: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹ Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (also called Debir), ⁵⁰ Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹ Goshen, Holon, and Giloh. There were eleven towns and their villages.

⁵² They were also given these towns in the mountains: Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³ Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴ Humtah, Kiriath Arba (also called Hebron), and Zior. There were nine towns and their villages.

⁵⁵ Judah was also given these towns in the mountains: Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶ Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷ Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah. There were ten towns and their villages.

⁵⁸ They were also given these towns in the mountains: Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹ Maarath, Beth Anoth, and Eltekon. There were six towns and their villages.

⁶⁰ The people of Judah were also given the two towns of Rabbah and Kiriath Baal (also called Kiriath Jearim) and their villages.

⁶¹ Judah was given these towns in the desert: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶² Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En Gedi. There were six towns and all their villages.

⁶³ The army of Judah was not able to force out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites still live among the people of Judah to this day.

Land for Ephraim and Manasseh

16 This is the land the tribe of Joseph received. It started at the Jordan River near Jericho and continued to the waters of Jericho, just east of the city. The border went up from Jericho to the mountains of Bethel. ² Then it continued from Bethel (also called Luz) to the Arkite border at Ataroth. ³ From there it went west to the border of the Japhletites and continued to the area of the Lower Beth Horon. Then it went to Gezer and ended at the sea.

⁴ So Manasseh and Ephraim, sons of Joseph, received their land.

⁵ This is the land that was given to the family groups of Ephraim: Their border started at Ataroth Addar in the east, went to Upper Beth Horon, ⁶ and then to the sea. From Micmethath it turned eastward toward Taanath Shiloh and continued eastward to Janoah. ⁷ Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah. It continued until it touched Jericho and stopped at the Jordan River. ⁸ The border went from Tappuah west to Kanah Ravine and ended at the sea. This is all the land that was given to each family group in the tribe of the Ephraimites. ⁹ Many of the towns were actually within Manasseh’s borders, but the people of Ephraim got those towns and their villages. ¹⁰ The Ephraimites could not force the Canaanites to leave Gezer, so the Canaanites still live among the Ephraimites today, but they became slaves of the Ephraimites.

17 Then land was given to the tribe of Manasseh, Joseph’s first son. Manasseh’s first son was Makir, the father of Gilead. Makir was a great soldier, so the lands of Gilead and Bashan were given to his family. ² Land was also given to the other family groups of Manasseh—Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were all the other sons of Manasseh son of Joseph.

³ Zelophehad was the son of Hepher, who was the son of Gilead, who was the son of Makir, who was the son of Manasseh. Zelophehad had no sons, but he had five daughters, named Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ They went to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and all the leaders. They said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land like the men received.” So Eleazar obeyed the Lord and gave the daughters some land, just like the brothers of their father. ⁵ So the tribe of Manasseh had ten sections of land west of the Jordan River and two more sections, Gilead and Bashan, on the east side of the Jordan River. ⁶ The daughters of Manasseh received land just as the sons did. Gilead was given to the rest of the families of Manasseh.

⁷ The lands of Manasseh were in the area between Asher and Micmethath, near Shechem. The border went south to the En Tappuah area, ⁸ which belonged to Manasseh, except for the town of Tappuah. It was along the border of Manasseh’s land and belonged to the sons of Ephraim. ⁹ The border of Manasseh continued south to Kanah Ravine. The cities in this area of Manasseh belonged to Ephraim. Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the ravine and went to the sea. ¹⁰ The land to the south belonged to Ephraim, and the land to the north belonged to Manasseh. The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. The border touched Asher’s land on the north and Issachar’s land on the east.

¹¹ In the areas of Issachar and Asher, the people of Manasseh owned these towns: Beth Shan and its small towns; Ibleam and its small towns; the people who lived in Dor and its small towns; the people in Naphoth Dor and its small towns; the people who lived in Taanach and its small towns; the people in Megiddo and its small towns. ¹² Manasseh was not able to defeat those cities, so the Canaanites continued to live there. ¹³ When the Israelites grew strong, they forced the Canaanites to work for them, although they did not force them to leave the land.

¹⁴ The people from the tribes of Joseph said to Joshua, “You gave us only one area of land, but we are many people. Why did you give us only one part of all the land the Lord gave his people?”

¹⁵ And Joshua answered them, “If you have too many people, go up to the forest and make a place for yourselves to live there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaites. The mountain country of Ephraim is too small for you.”

¹⁶ The people of Joseph said, “It is true. The mountain country of Ephraim is not enough for us, but the land where the Canaanites live is dangerous. They are skilled fighters. They have powerful weapons in Beth Shan and all the small towns in that area, and they are also in the Valley of Jezreel.”

¹⁷ Then Joshua said to the people of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh, “There are many of you, and you have great power. You should be given more than one share of land. ¹⁸ You also will have the mountain country. It is a forest, but you can cut down the trees and make it a good place to live. You will own all of it because you will force the Canaanites to leave the land even though they have powerful weapons and are strong.”

About Food Offered to Idols

8 Now I will write about meat that is sacrificed to idols. We know that “we all have knowledge.” Knowledge puffs you up with pride, but love builds up. ² If you think you know something, you do not yet know anything as you should. ³ But if any person loves God, that person is known by God.

⁴ So this is what I say about eating meat sacrificed to idols: We know that an idol is really nothing in the world, and we know there is only one God. ⁵ Even though there are things called gods, in heaven or on earth (and there are many “gods” and “lords”), ⁶ for us there is only one God—our Father. All things came from him, and we live for him. And there is only one Lord—Jesus Christ. All things were made through him, and we also were made through him.

⁷ But not all people know this. Some people are still so used to idols that when they eat meat, they still think of it as being sacrificed to an idol. Because their conscience is weak, when they eat it, they feel guilty. ⁸ But food will not bring us closer to God. Refusing to eat does not make us less pleasing to God, and eating does not make us better in God’s sight.

⁹ But be careful that your freedom does not cause those who are weak in faith to fall into sin. ¹⁰ Suppose one of you who has knowledge eats in an idol’s temple.^[a] Someone who is weak in faith might see you eating there and be encouraged to eat meat sacrificed to idols while thinking it is wrong to do so. ¹¹ This weak believer for whom Christ died is ruined because of your “knowledge.” ¹² When you sin against your brothers and sisters in Christ like this and cause them to do what they feel is wrong, you are also sinning against Christ. ¹³ So if the food I eat causes them to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again so that I will not cause any of them to sin.