Joseph’s Inheritance

Ephraim’s Inheritance

⁵ This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans:

This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans, together with ⁹ the cities set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh—all these cities with their villages. ¹⁰ But, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer.^(J) So the Canaanites live in Ephraim to this day,^(K) but they are forced laborers.

West Manasseh’s Inheritance

17 This was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh^(L) as Joseph’s firstborn. Gilead and Bashan came to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, who was a man of war.^{(M) 2} So the allotment was for the rest of Manasseh’s descendants by their clans, for the sons of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their clans.

³ Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.^{(N) 4} They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our male relatives.”^[c] So they gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the Lord’s instruction.^{(O) 5} As a result, 10 tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan,^{[d] 6} because Manasseh’s daughters received an inheritance among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of Manasseh’s sons.

¹² The descendants of Manasseh could not possess these cities, because the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land. ¹³ However, when the Israelites grew stronger, they imposed forced labor on the Canaanites but did not drive them out completely.^(S)

Joseph’s Additional Inheritance

¹⁴ Joseph’s descendants said to Joshua, “Why did you give us only one tribal allotment^[g] as an inheritance? We have many people, because the Lord has been blessing us greatly.”

¹⁵ “If you have so many people,” Joshua replied to them, “go to the forest and clear an area for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, because Ephraim’s hill country is too small for you.”

¹⁶ But the descendants of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who inhabit the valley area have iron chariots, both at Beth-shean with its towns and in the Jezreel Valley.”

¹⁷ So Joshua replied to Joseph’s family (that is, Ephraim and Manasseh), “You have many people and great strength. You will not have just one allotment, ¹⁸ because the hill country will be yours also. It is a forest; clear it and its outlying areas will be yours. You can also drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

Land Distribution at Shiloh

18 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh^(T) where it set up the tent of meeting there; the land had been subdued by them. ² Seven tribes among the Israelites were left who had not divided up their inheritance. ³ So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you delay going out to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, gave you?^{(U) 4} Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to go and survey the land, write a description of it for the purpose of their inheritance, and return to me. ⁵ Then they are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south and Joseph’s family in their^[h] territory in the north.^{(V) 6} When you have written a description of the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots for you here in the presence of the Lord our God.^{(W) 7} But the Levites among you do not get a portion, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the Lord.^(X) Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave them.”

⁸ As the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them^[i] to write down a description of the land, saying, “Go and survey the land, write a description of it, and return to me. I will then cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.” ⁹ So the men left, went through the land, and described it by towns in a document of seven sections. They returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. ¹⁰ Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

Benjamin’s Inheritance

¹¹ The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah’s descendants and Joseph’s descendants.

This was the inheritance of Benjamin’s descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.

Benjamin’s Cities

²¹ These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:

This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.

Jesus Visits Zacchaeus

19 He entered Jericho and was passing through. ² There was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. ³ He was trying to see who Jesus was, but he was not able because of the crowd, since he was a short man. ⁴ So running ahead, he climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus, since He was about to pass that way. ⁵ When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down because today I must stay at your house.”

⁶ So he quickly came down and welcomed Him joyfully. ⁷ All who saw it began to complain,^(A) “He’s gone to lodge with a sinful man!”

⁸ But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, I’ll give^[a] half of my possessions to the poor,^(B) Lord! And if I have extorted^(C) anything from anyone, I’ll pay^[b] back four times as much!”^(D)

⁹ “Today salvation^(E) has come to this house,” Jesus told him, “because he too is a son of Abraham.^{(F) 10} For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost.”^[c](G)

The Parable of the 10 Minas

¹¹ As^(H) they were listening to this, He went on to tell a parable because He was near Jerusalem,^(I) and they thought the kingdom of God was going to appear right away.^(J)

¹² Therefore He said: “A nobleman traveled to a far country to receive for himself authority to be king^[d] and then return. ¹³ He called 10 of his slaves, gave them 10 minas,^[e] and told them, ‘Engage in business until I come back.’

¹⁴ “But his subjects hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We don’t want this man to rule over us!’

¹⁵ “At his return, having received the authority to be king,^[f] he summoned those slaves he had given the money to, so he could find out how much they had made in business. ¹⁶ The first came forward and said, ‘Master, your mina has earned 10 more minas.’

¹⁷ “‘Well done, good^[g] slave!’ he told him. ‘Because you have been faithful^(K) in a very small matter, have authority over 10 towns.’

¹⁸ “The second came and said, ‘Master, your mina has made five minas.’

¹⁹ “So he said to him, ‘You will be over five towns.’

²⁰ “And another came and said, ‘Master, here is your mina. I have kept it hidden away in a cloth ²¹ because I was afraid of you, for you’re a tough man: you collect what you didn’t deposit and reap what you didn’t sow.’^(L)

²² “He told him, ‘I will judge you by what you have said,^[h] you evil slave! If you knew I was a tough man, collecting what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow, ²³ why didn’t you put my money in the bank? And when I returned, I would have collected it with interest!’ ²⁴ So he said to those standing there, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has 10 minas.’

²⁵ “But they said to him, ‘Master, he has 10 minas.’

²⁶ “‘I tell you, that to everyone who has, more will be given; and from the one who does not have, even what he does have will be taken away.^{(M) 27} But bring here these enemies of mine,^(N) who did not want me to rule over them, and slaughter^[i] them in my presence.’”

Psalm 87

Zion, the City of God

A psalm of the sons of Korah. A song.