The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh

16 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, ^(A)into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. ² Then ^(B)going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. ³ Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower ^(C)Beth-horon, then to ^(D)Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

^4 (E)The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

⁵ The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was ^(F)Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, ⁶ and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is ^(G)Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, ⁷ then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and ^(H)to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. ⁸ From ^(I)Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, ⁹ together with ^(J)the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. ¹⁰ However, ^(K)they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made ^(L)to do forced labor.

17 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was ^(M)the firstborn of Joseph. To ^(N)Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, ^(O)were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. ² And allotments were made ^(P)to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans.

³ Now ^(Q)Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: ^(R)Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ They approached ^(S)Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, ^(T)“The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. ⁵ Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides ^(U)the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, ⁶ because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh.

⁷ The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to ^(V)Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ⁸ The land of ^(W)Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. ^9 (X)Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, ¹⁰ the land to the south being Ephraim's and that to the north being Manasseh's, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. ¹¹ Also in Issachar and in Asher ^(Y)Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of ^(Z)Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of ^(AA)Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of ^(AB)Megiddo and its villages; ^(AC)the third is Naphath.^{[a] 12 (AD)}Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. ¹³ Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites ^(AE)to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

¹⁴ Then ^(AF)the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but ^(AG)one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am ^(AH)a numerous people, since all along the Lord has blessed me?” ¹⁵ And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and ^(AI)the Rephaim, since ^(AJ)the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” ¹⁶ The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have ^(AK)chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in ^(AL)the Valley of Jezreel.” ¹⁷ Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, ¹⁸ but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites, ^(AM)though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Released from the Law

7 Or do you not know, brothers^[a]—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? ² For ^(A)a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage.^{[b] 3} Accordingly, ^(B)she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.

⁴ Likewise, my brothers, ^(C)you also have died ^(D)to the law ^(E)through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, ^(F)in order that we may bear fruit for God. ⁵ For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work ^(G)in our members ^(H)to bear fruit for death. ⁶ But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the ^(I)new way of ^(J)the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.^[c]

The Law and Sin

⁷ What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, ^(K)I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if ^(L)the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, ^(M)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. ^(N)For apart from the law, sin lies dead. ⁹ I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. ¹⁰ The very commandment ^(O)that promised life proved to be death to me. ¹¹ For sin, ^(P)seizing an opportunity through the commandment, ^(Q)deceived me and through it killed me. ¹² So ^(R)the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

¹³ Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, ^(S)sold under sin. ¹⁵ For I do not understand my own actions. For ^(T)I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. ¹⁶ Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with ^(U)the law, that it is good. ¹⁷ So now ^(V)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. ¹⁸ For I know that nothing good dwells ^(W)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. ^19 (X)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want, ^(Y)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

²¹ So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. ²² For ^(Z)I delight in the law of God, ^(AA)in my inner being, ²³ but I see in my members ^(AB)another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from ^(AC)this body of death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Life in the Spirit

8 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.^{[d] 2} For the law of ^(AD)the Spirit of life ^(AE)has set you^[e] free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. ³ For ^(AF)God has done what the law, ^(AG)weakened by the flesh, ^(AH)could not do. ^(AI)By sending his own Son ^(AJ)in the likeness of sinful flesh and ^(AK)for sin,^[f] he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that ^(AL)the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, ^(AM)who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ For ^(AN)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on ^(AO)the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on ^(AP)the things of the Spirit. ⁶ For to set ^(AQ)the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ For the mind that is set on the flesh is ^(AR)hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; ^(AS)indeed, it cannot. ⁸ Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

⁹ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact ^(AT)the Spirit of God dwells in you. ^(AU)Anyone who does not have ^(AV)the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. ¹¹ If the Spirit of ^(AW)him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus^[g] from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies ^(AX)through his Spirit who dwells in you.

Heirs with Christ

¹² So then, brothers,^[h] we are debtors, ^(AY)not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you ^(AZ)put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are ^(BA)led by the Spirit of God are ^(BB)sons^[i] of God. ¹⁵ For ^(BC)you did not receive ^(BD)the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of ^(BE)adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ^(BF)“Abba! Father!” ^16 (BG)The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, then ^(BH)heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, ^(BI)provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Future Glory

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time ^(BJ)are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for ^(BK)the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation ^(BL)was subjected to futility, not willingly, but ^(BM)because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that ^(BN)the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that ^(BO)the whole creation ^(BP)has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have ^(BQ)the firstfruits of the Spirit, ^(BR)groan inwardly as ^(BS)we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, ^(BT)the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For ^(BU)in this hope we were saved. Now ^(BV)hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we ^(BW)wait for it with patience.

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For ^(BX)we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but ^(BY)the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. ²⁷ And ^(BZ)he who searches hearts knows what is ^(CA)the mind of the Spirit, because^[j] the Spirit ^(CB)intercedes for the saints ^(CC)according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together ^(CD)for good,^[k] for ^(CE)those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he ^(CF)foreknew he also ^(CG)predestined ^(CH)to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be ^(CI)the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also ^(CJ)justified, and those whom he justified he also ^(CK)glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? ^(CL)If God is for us, who can be^[l] against us? ^32 (CM)He who did not spare his own Son but ^(CN)gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? ³³ Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? ^(CO)It is God who justifies. ^34 (CP)Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—^(CQ)who is at the right hand of God, ^(CR)who indeed is interceding for us.^{[m] 35} Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than ^(CU)conquerors through ^(CV)him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God's Sovereign Choice

9 ^(CW)I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— ² that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. ³ For ^(CX)I could wish that I myself were ^(CY)accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers,^[n] my kinsmen ^(CZ)according to the flesh. ⁴ They are ^(DA)Israelites, and to them belong ^(DB)the adoption, ^(DC)the glory, ^(DD)the covenants, ^(DE)the giving of the law, ^(DF)the worship, and ^(DG)the promises. ⁵ To them belong ^(DH)the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, ^(DI)who is God over all, ^(DJ)blessed forever. Amen.

⁶ But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, ⁷ and not all are children of Abraham ^(DK)because they are his offspring, but ^(DL)“Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” ⁸ This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but ^(DM)the children of the promise are counted as offspring. ⁹ For this is what the promise said: ^(DN)“About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son.” ¹⁰ And not only so, but ^(DO)also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, ¹¹ though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad—in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of ^(DP)him who calls— ¹² she was told, ^(DQ)“The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(DR)“Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(DS)Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! ¹⁵ For he says to Moses, ^(DT)“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it depends not on human will or exertion,^[o] but on God, who has mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ^(DU)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.” ¹⁸ So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For ^(DV)who can resist his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, ^(DW)to answer back to God? ^(DX)Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” ^21 (DY)Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump ^(DZ)one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? ²² What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience ^(EA)vessels of wrath ^(EB)prepared for destruction, ²³ in order to make known ^(EC)the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he ^(ED)has prepared beforehand for glory— ²⁴ even us whom he ^(EE)has called, ^(EF)not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As indeed he says in Hosea,

²⁷ And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: ^(EJ)“Though the number of the sons of Israel^[p] be as the sand of the sea, ^(EK)only a remnant of them will be saved, ²⁸ for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” ²⁹ And as Isaiah predicted,

Israel's Unbelief

³⁰ What shall we say, then? ^(EO)That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, ^(EP)a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹ but that Israel ^(EQ)who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness^{[q] (ER)}did not succeed in reaching that law. ³² Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the ^(ES)stumbling stone, ³³ as it is written,