The Daily Audio Bible

Territory of Ephraim

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

⁴ The sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance. ⁵ Now this was the territory of the sons of Ephraim according to their families: on the east side the border of their inheritance was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Beth-horon. ⁶ Then the border went westward at Michmethath on the north, and turned eastward to Taanath-shiloh and continued beyond it to the east of Janoah. ⁷ It went down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah, touched Jericho and ended at the Jordan. ⁸ The border continued from Tappuah westward to the Brook Kanah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim according to their families (clans), ⁹ with the cities which were set apart for the sons of Ephraim within the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages. ¹⁰ But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites live among Ephraim to this day, and they became forced laborers.

Territory of Manasseh

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

³ But 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 and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. ⁴ They came before Eleazar the priest and before Joshua the son of Nun and before the leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brothers.” So according to the command of the Lord Joshua 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 [on the east side of the river], ⁶ because the daughters of [Zelophehad, a descendant of] Manasseh had received an inheritance among his [other] sons [whose inheritance went to their male descendants]. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.^(A)

⁷ The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to Michmethath which was east of Shechem; then the border went southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. ⁸ The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but [the city of] Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the sons of Ephraim. ⁹ Then the border went down to the brook of Kanah, south of the brook (these cities belonged to Ephraim, among the cities of Manasseh), and Manasseh’s border was on the north side of the brook and it ended at the sea. ¹⁰ The land on the south side belonged to Ephraim and that on the north side was Manasseh’s, and the sea was their border; they reached to [the territory of] Asher on the north and to [the territory of] Issachar on the east. ¹¹ Also, in Issachar and in Asher, 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 Napheth. ¹² But the sons of Manasseh were not able to [drive out the inhabitants and] take possession of these cities, because the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. ¹³ When the Israelites became strong, they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.

¹⁴ The sons of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given us only one lot and one portion as an inheritance, when we are a numerous people whom the Lord has so far blessed?” ¹⁵ Then Joshua replied, “If you are a numerous people, go up to the forest and clear ground for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and the Rephaim, since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” ¹⁶ The sons of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both those who are in Beth-shean and its towns and those in the Valley of Jezreel.” ¹⁷ Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power; you shall not have only one lot, 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, even though they have iron chariots and though they are strong.”

Rest of the Land Divided

18 Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh [in the tribal territory of Ephraim], and set up the Tent of Meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

² There remained among the Israelites ^[a]seven tribes who had not yet divided their inheritance. ³ So Joshua asked them, “How long will you 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 each tribe so that I may send them, and that they may go through the land and write a description of it with regard to their [tribal] inheritance; then they shall return to me. ⁵ They shall divide it into seven parts; [the tribe of] Judah shall remain in its territory on the south, and the ^[b]house of Joseph shall remain in its territory on the north. ⁶ You shall describe the land in seven divisions, and bring the description here to me. I will cast lots for you here ^[c]before the Lord our God. ⁷ But the Levites have no portion among you, because the priesthood of the Lord is ^[d]their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸ So the men arose and went [on their way], and Joshua commanded those who went to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk throughout the land and describe it, and return to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men set out and passed through the land, and described it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came back to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel, [to each tribe] according to their portions.

The Territory of Benjamin

¹¹ Now the lot (allotment) of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot fell between [the tribes of] the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. ¹² On the north side their border began at the Jordan, then it went up the slope of Jericho on the north, and up through the hill country westward, and it ended at the Beth-aven wilderness. ¹³ Then the border continued southward toward Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); then the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the hill that lies south of lower Beth-horon. ¹⁴ The border changed course [from there] and turned around on the western side southward, from the hill that lies to the south opposite Beth-horon; it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of [the tribe of] the sons of Judah. This formed the western side [of Benjamin’s territory]. ¹⁵ The southern side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went on westward and went to the source of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the border went down to the edge of the hill overlooking the Valley of Ben-hinnom (son of Hinnom), which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim; and it descended to the Valley of Hinnom, south to the slope of the Jebusite, and went on down to En-rogel. ¹⁷ Then it turned toward the north and went on to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ It continued to the north to the side opposite [Beth-] Arabah and went down to the Arabah. ¹⁹ The border continued along to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the border ended at the northern bay of the Salt (Dead) Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the southern border. ²⁰ And the Jordan River 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 and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz, ²² and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel, ²³ and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah, ²⁴ and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and Geba; twelve cities with their villages; ²⁵ Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth, ²⁶ and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah, ²⁷ and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah, ²⁸ and Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of [the tribe of] the sons of Benjamin according to their families (clans).

Zaccheus Converted

19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. ² And there was a man called Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector [a superintendent to whom others reported], and he was rich. ³ Zaccheus was trying to see who Jesus was, but he could not see ^[a]because of the crowd, for he was short in stature. ⁴ So he ran on ahead [of the crowd] and climbed up in a sycamore tree in order to see Him, for He was about to pass through that way. ⁵ When Jesus reached the place, He looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” ⁶ So Zaccheus hurried and came down, and welcomed Jesus with joy. ⁷ When the people saw it, they all began muttering [in discontent], “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a [notorious] sinner.” ⁸ Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “See, Lord, I am [now] giving half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone out of anything, I will give back four times as much.”^{(A) 9} Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this household, because he, too, is a [^[b]spiritual] son of Abraham; ¹⁰ for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Parable of Money Usage

¹¹ While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they assumed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately [as soon as He reached the city]. ¹² So He said, “A nobleman went to a distant country to obtain for himself a kingdom, and [then] to return. ¹³ So he called ten of his servants, and gave them ten minas [one apiece, each equal to about a hundred days’ wages] and said to them, ‘Do business [with this] until I return.’ ¹⁴ But his citizens [the residents of his new kingdom] hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to be a king over us.’ ¹⁵ When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these servants, to whom he had given the money, be called to him, that he might find out what business they had done. ¹⁶ The first one came before him and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made ten more minas.’ ¹⁷ And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you proved yourself faithful and trustworthy in a very little thing, you shall [now] have authority over ten cities [in my kingdom].’ ¹⁸ The second one came and said, ‘Lord, your mina has made five minas.’ ¹⁹ And he said to him also, ‘And you shall take charge over five cities.’ ²⁰ Then another came and said, ‘Lord, here is your mina, which I have kept laid up in a handkerchief [for safekeeping]. ²¹ I was [always] afraid of you, because you are a stern man; you pick up what you did not lay down and you reap what you did not sow.’ ²² He said to the servant, ‘I will judge and condemn you by your own words, you worthless servant! Did you [really] know that I was a stern man, picking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? ²³ Then why did you not [at the very least] put my money in a bank? Then on my return, I would have collected it with interest.’ ²⁴ Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ ²⁵ And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten minas already!’ ²⁶ [Jesus explained,] ‘I tell you that to everyone who has [because he valued his gifts from God and has used them wisely], more will be given; but from the one who does not have [because he disregarded his gifts from God], even what he has will be taken away.’ ²⁷ [The king ended by saying,] ‘But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them, bring them here and kill them in my presence.’”

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