Inspire: Joshua, Judges & Ruth 978-1-4964-7519-0 - Flipbook - Page 38
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Joshua replied, “If there are so many of you, and if the hill country of Ephraim
is not large enough for you, clear out land for yourselves in the forest where the
Perizzites and Rephaites live.”
16 The descendants of Joseph responded, “It’s true that the hill country is not
large enough for us. But all the Canaanites in the lowlands have iron chariots,
both those in Beth-shan and its surrounding settlements and those in the valley
of Jezreel. They are too strong for us.”
17 Then Joshua said to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, the descendants of
Joseph, “Since you are so large and strong, you will be given more than one portion. 18 The forests of the hill country will be yours as well. Clear as much of the
land as you wish, and take possession of its farthest corners.
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And you will drive out
the Canaanites from the valleys, too,
even though they are strong
and have iron chariots.”
The Allotments of the Remaining Land
Now that the land was under Israelite control, the entire community of
Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tabernacle. 2 But there remained
seven tribes who had not yet been allotted their grants of land.
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Then Joshua asked them,
“How long are you going to wait
before taking possession
of the remaining land the LORD,
the God of your ancestors,
has given to you?
Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to explore the land
and map it out. They will then return to me with a written report of their proposed divisions of their new homeland. 5 Let them divide the land into seven sections, excluding Judah’s territory in the south and Joseph’s territory in the north.
6 And when you record the seven divisions of the land and bring them to me, I will
cast sacred lots in the presence of the Lord our God to assign land to each tribe.
7 “The Levites, however, will not receive any allotment of land. Their role as
priests of the Lord is their allotment. And the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and the halftribe of Manasseh won’t receive any more land, for they have already received
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