Territory of Ephraim

16 Then the lot for the sons of Joseph went from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east into ^(A)the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. ² It went from Bethel to Luz, and ^(B)continued to the border of the Archites at Ataroth. ³ Then it went down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of lower ^(C)Beth-horon even to ^(D)Gezer, and ^[a]it ended at the sea.

⁴ The ^(E)sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. ⁵ Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: the border of their inheritance eastward was ^(F)Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon. ⁶ Then the border went westward at ^(G)Michmethath on the north, and the border turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah. ⁷ Then it went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to ^(H)Naarah, then reached Jericho and came out at the Jordan. ⁸ From ^(I)Tappuah the border continued westward to the ^[b]brook of Kanah, and ^[c]it ended at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families, ⁹ together with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. ^10 (J)But they did not ^[d]drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so ^(K)the Canaanites live in the midst of Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

Territory of Manasseh

17 Now this was the lot for the tribe of ^(L)Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, ^[e]were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. ² So the lot was made for the rest of the sons of Manasseh according to their families: for the sons of Abiezer, the sons of Helek, the sons of Asriel, the sons of Shechem, the sons of Hepher, and the sons of Shemida; these were the male ^[f]descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

³ However, ^(M)Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters; and these are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ They approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So ^(N)in accordance with the ^[g]command of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers. ⁵ So ten portions fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond the Jordan, ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance among his sons. And the ^(O)land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷ The border of Manasseh ^[h]ran from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went ^[i]southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ⁸ The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but ^(P)Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim. ⁹ And the ^(Q)border went down to the ^[j]brook of Kanah, southward of the ^[k]brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh), and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the ^[l]brook, and ^[m]it ended at the sea. ¹⁰ The south side belonged to Ephraim and the north side to Manasseh, and the sea was ^[n]their border; and they reached to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east. ¹¹ In Issachar and in Asher, ^(R)Manasseh had Beth-shean and its towns and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns; the third is ^(S)Napheth. ^12 (T)But the sons of Manasseh could not take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in this land. ¹³ And it came about when the sons of Israel became strong, ^(U)they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not ^[o]drive them out completely.

¹⁴ Then the ^(V)sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me only one lot and one portion as an inheritance, though I am a numerous people whom the Lord has blessed up to this point?” ¹⁵ And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go ^[p]up to the forest and clear a place for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” ¹⁶ The sons of Joseph then said, “The hill country is not enough for us, but all the Canaanites who live in the valley land have ^(W)iron chariots, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those who are in the Valley of Jezreel.” ¹⁷ But Joshua spoke to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, saying, “You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have one lot only, ¹⁸ but the hill country shall be yours. For though it is a forest, you shall clear it, and to its ^[q]farthest borders it shall be yours; for you shall ^[r]drive out the Canaanites, even though they have ^(X)iron chariots and though they are strong.”

Rest of the Land Divided

18 Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled at ^(Y)Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

² But there remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not divided their inheritance. ³ So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “^(Z)How long will you ^[s]put off entering to take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴ Provide for yourselves three men from ^[t]each tribe so that I may send them, and that they may arise and walk through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance; then they shall ^[u]return to me. ⁵ And they shall divide it into seven portions; ^(AA)Judah shall stay in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall stay in their territory on the north. ⁶ And you shall write a description of the land in seven divisions, and bring the description here to me. ^(AB)Then I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷ For ^(AC)the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the Lord is ^[v]their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸ Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to write a description of the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and write a description of it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in ^(AD)Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men went and passed through the land, and wrote a description of it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh. ^10 (AE)Joshua then cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land for the sons of Israel according to their divisions.

The Territory of Benjamin

¹¹ Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot ^[w]lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. ^12 (AF)Their border on the north side was from the Jordan, then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward, and ^[x]it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³ Then from there the border continued to ^(AG)Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill which lies on the south of ^(AH)lower Beth-horon. ¹⁴ And the border changed direction from there and turned around on the west side southward, from the hill which lies opposite Beth-horon southward; and ^[y]it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side. ¹⁵ Then the ^(AI)south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went westward and went to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the border went down to the edge of the hill which is ^[z]in the ^(AJ)Valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the Valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the Valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel. ¹⁷ Then it turned northward and went to En-shemesh, and went to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the ^(AK)stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ And it continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward, and went down to the Arabah. ¹⁹ Then the border continued to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the ^[aa]border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border. ²⁰ Moreover, the Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families, and according to its borders all around.

²¹ Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz, ²² Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, and Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, and Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and ^(AL)Geba; twelve cities with their villages. ²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, and Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, and Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah, ^28 (AM)Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the ^(AN)sons of Benjamin according to their families.

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem

2 Now in those days a decree went out from ^(A)Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of ^(B)all ^[a]the inhabited earth. ^2 [b]This was the first census taken while ^[c]Quirinius was governor of ^(C)Syria. ³ And all the people were on their way to register for the census, each to his own city. ⁴ Now Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because ^(D)he was of the house and family of David, ⁵ in order to register along with Mary, who was ^[d]betrothed to him, and was pregnant. ⁶ While they were there, the ^[e]time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she ^(E)gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a ^[f]manger, because there was no ^[g]room for them in the inn.

⁸ In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock at night. ⁹ And ^(F)an angel of the Lord suddenly ^(G)stood near them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. ¹⁰ And so the angel said to them, “^(H)Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a ^(I)Savior, who is ^[h](J)Christ ^(K)the Lord. ¹² And ^(L)this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a ^[i]manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly ^[j]army of angels praising God and saying,

¹⁵ When the angels had departed from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem, then, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the ^[l]manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen Him, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it were amazed about the things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary ^(O)treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds went back, ^(P)glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

Jesus Presented at the Temple

²¹ And when ^(Q)eight days were completed ^[m]so that it was time for His circumcision, ^(R)He was also named Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

^22 (S)And when the days for ^[n]their purification according to the Law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord ²³ (as it is written in the Law of the Lord: “^(T)Every firstborn male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”), ²⁴ and to offer a sacrifice according to what has been stated in the Law of the Lord: “^(U)A pair of turtledoves or two young doves.”