Old/New Testament

16 The share of land for the people of Joseph went from the Jordan at Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the desert. It went from Jericho through the hill country to Bethel. ² It went from Bethel to Luz, and on to the land of the Archites at Ataroth. ³ Then it went west to the land of the Japhletites, as far as the land of lower Beth-horon, and to Gezer. It ended at the sea.

⁴ The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim received their land.

⁵ The land of the people of Ephraim by their families on the east side was Ataroth-addar, as far as upper Bethhoron. ⁶ Then the side of the land went toward the sea, with Michmethath on the north, and turned east to Taanath-shiloh, and on to the east side of Janoah. ⁷ From Janoah it went down to Ataroth, to Naarah, touched Jericho, and ended at the Jordan. ⁸ From Tappuah it went west to the river of Kanah and ended at the sea. This is the land given to the family group of the people of Ephraim for their families. ⁹ And there are the cities which were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the land that was given to the people of Manasseh, all the cities with the towns around them. ¹⁰ But they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites live among Ephraim to this day. But they have been made to work for the people of Ephraim.

17 This was the share of land given to the family of Manasseh, the first-born of Joseph. Gilead and Bashan were given to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war. ² And land was given to the rest of the sons of Manasseh for their families. The sons of Joseph’s son Manasseh, with their families, were Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. ³ But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴ They came to Eleazar the religious leader, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The Lord told Moses to give us a share of land among our brothers.” So they gave them a share of land among their father’s brothers, as the Lord had said. ⁵ Ten parts of the land were given to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan on the other side of the Jordan; ⁶ because Manasseh’s daughters received a share of land among his sons. The land of Gilead belonged to the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷ The side of the land of Manasseh went from Asher to Michmethath, east of Shechem. Then it went south to the people of En-tappuah. ⁸ The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh. But the town of Tappuah on the side of Manasseh’s land belonged to the sons of Ephraim. ⁹ Then the side of the land went down to the river of Kanah. The cities south of the river, among the cities of Manasseh, belonged to Ephraim. Then Manasseh’s land went along the north side of the river and ended at the sea. ¹⁰ The south side belonged to Ephraim. The north side belonged to Manasseh. Their land spread from the sea to Asher on the north and to Issachar on the east. ¹¹ In Issachar and in Asher, Manasseh had Beth-shean and its towns, Ibleam and its towns, the people of Dor and its towns, the people of En-dor and its towns, the people of Taanach and its towns, and the people of Megiddo and its towns. The third city is Napheth. ¹² But the sons of Manasseh could not take these cities for their own because the Canaanites would not leave that land. ¹³ When the people of Israel became strong, they made the Canaanites work for them. But they did not drive all of them out.

¹⁴ The sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one share of the land? We have many people. And the Lord has brought good to us until now.” ¹⁵ Joshua said to them, “If you have many people, go up among the trees and clear a place for yourselves 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. But all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron war-wagons. Both those in Beth-shean and its towns and those in the valley of Jezreel have them.” ¹⁷ Then Joshua said to the families of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You have many people and much power. You will not have only one share of land. ¹⁸ The hill country will be yours. It is full of trees, but you will clear it. All of it will be yours. For you will drive out the Canaanites, even if they have iron war-wagons and much strength.”

18 Then all the people of Israel gathered together at Shiloh. They set up the tent of meeting there. The land around them had been taken in battle. ² There were still seven family groups among the people of Israel who had not received their share of land. ³ So Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you wait before going in to take the land the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴ Choose three men from each of these seven family groups. I will send them to go through the land and write down what they find it to be like, to be shared by each family. Then they will return to me. ⁵ They will divide it into seven parts. Judah will stay in his land in the south. The house of Joseph will stay in their land in the north. ⁶ You will write down how the land should be divided into seven parts, then bring it to me. I will draw names for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷ The Levites have no share of land among you. Being the religious leaders for the Lord is their share. Gad and Reuben and the half-family group of Manasseh have received their land east of the Jordan. The Lord’s servant Moses gave it to them.”

⁸ As the men got up to go, Joshua told them, “Go and walk through the land. Write down what you find, and return to me. Then I will draw names for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹ The men went and passed through the land. They wrote in a book the cities they found and divided them into seven parts. Then they returned to Joshua among the tents at Shiloh. ¹⁰ Joshua drew names for them in Shiloh before the Lord. There he divided the land among the people of Israel, a part for each family.

¹¹ The first name drawn was for the families of the people of Benjamin. The share of their land was between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. ¹² The north side of their land was from the Jordan up to the north side of Jericho. Then it went west through the hill country, ending at the desert of Beth-aven. ¹³ The side of their land went from there south to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel). Then it went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill south of the valley land of Beth-horon. ¹⁴ The side of their land turned west from there around the south side of the hill before Bethhoron. It ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the people of Judah. This was the west side. ¹⁵ The south side was from the side of Kiriath-jearim west to the well of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the side of their land went down to the side of the hill in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, at the north end of the valley of Rephaim. It went down to the valley of Hinnom, south of the side of the Jebusites, and down to En-rogel. ¹⁷ Then it went north to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth by the hill of Adummim, then down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. ¹⁸ It went on to the north side of Beth-arabah, and down to the Arabah. ¹⁹ Then the side of their land went along the north side of Beth-hoglah. And it ended at the north waters of the Salt Sea at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south side. ²⁰ The east side of their land was the Jordan. This was the land with its sides, given to the family group of Benjamin.

²¹ The cities of the people of Benjamin for their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²² Betharabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba, twelve cities with their towns. ²⁵ And there were Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath, fourteen cities with their towns. This is the land that was given to the families of the people of Benjamin.

The Birth of Jesus ^(A)

2 In those days Caesar Augustus sent out word that the name of every person in the Roman nation must be written in the books of the nation. ² This first writing took place while Quirinius was ruler of Syria.

³ So all the people went to their own cities to have their names written in the books of the nation. ⁴ Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in the country of Galilee to the town of Bethlehem. It was known as the city of David. He went there because he was from the family of David. ⁵ Joseph went to have his and Mary’s names written in the books of the nation. Mary was his promised wife and soon to become a mother.

⁶ While they were there in Bethlehem, the time came for Mary to give birth to her baby. ⁷ Her first son was born. She put cloth around Him and laid Him in a place where cattle are fed. There was no room for them in the place where people stay for the night.

The Shepherds Learn of the Birth of Jesus

⁸ In the same country there were shepherds in the fields. They were watching their flocks of sheep at night. ⁹ The angel of the Lord came to them. The shining-greatness of the Lord shone around them. They were very much afraid. ¹⁰ The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. See! I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people. ¹¹ Today, One Who saves from the punishment of sin has been born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. ¹² There will be something special for you to see. This is the way you will know Him. You will find the Baby with cloth around Him, lying in a place where cattle are fed.”

¹³ At once many angels from heaven were seen, along with the angel, giving thanks to God. They were saying, ¹⁴ “Greatness and honor to our God in the highest heaven and peace on earth among men who please Him.”

The Shepherds Go to Bethlehem

¹⁵ The angels went from the shepherds back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see what has happened. The Lord has told us about this.” ¹⁶ They went fast and found Mary and Joseph. They found the Baby lying in a place where cattle are fed. ¹⁷ When they saw the Child, they told what the angel said about Him. ¹⁸ All who heard it were surprised at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary hid all these words in her heart. She thought about them much. ²⁰ The shepherds went back full of joy. They thanked God for all they had heard and seen. It happened as the angel had told them.

Jesus Taken to the House of God

²¹ When eight days were over, they did the religious act of becoming a Jew on the Child. He was named Jesus. This name was given to Him by the angel when Mary was told He was to be born. ²² When the days were over for her to be made pure as it was written in the Law of Moses, they took Jesus to Jerusalem to give Him to the Lord. ²³ It is written in the Law of the Lord, “The first-born male born of a woman will be called holy to the Lord.” ²⁴ They were to give a gift of two turtle-doves or two young birds on the altar in worship to the Lord. This was written in the Law of the Lord.