Joseph

Now the family heads of the clan of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh, one of the clans of Joseph, approached Moses and the leaders who were the heads of the Israelite families and addressed them,

So at the word of the LORD, Moses commanded the Israelites: “The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks correctly.

They married within the clans of the descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, and their inheritance remained within the tribe of their father’s clan.

“When you have crossed the Jordan, these tribes shall stand on Mount Gerizim to bless the people: Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Concerning Joseph he said: “May his land be blessed by the LORD with the precious dew from heaven above and the deep waters that lie beneath,

with the choice gifts of the land and everything in it, and with the favor of Him who dwelt in the burning bush. May these rest on the head of Joseph and crown the brow of the prince of his brothers.

The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion of the land was given to the Levites, except for cities in which to live, along with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.

The allotment for the descendants of Joseph extended from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness that goes up from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel.

So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, received their inheritance.

Now this was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh as Joseph’s firstborn son, namely for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh and father of the Gileadites, who had received Gilead and Bashan because Machir was a man of war.

So this allotment was for the rest of the descendants of Manasseh—the clans of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the other male descendants of the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph.

Then the sons of Joseph said to Joshua, “Why have you given us only one portion as an inheritance? We have many people, because the LORD has blessed us abundantly.”

“The hill country is not enough for us,” they replied, “and all the Canaanites who live in the valley have iron chariots, both in Beth-shean with its towns and in the Valley of Jezreel.”

So Joshua said to the house of Joseph—to Ephraim and Manasseh—“You have many people and great strength. You shall not have just one allotment,

and divide the land into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their territory in the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory in the north.

The first lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

And the bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up out of Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the plot of land that Jacob had purchased from the sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for a hundred pieces of silver. So it became an inheritance for Joseph’s descendants.

The house of Joseph also attacked Bethel, and the LORD was with them.

They sent spies to Bethel (formerly known as Luz),

And the Amorites were determined to dwell in Mount Heres, Aijalon, and Shaalbim. But when the house of Joseph grew in strength, they pressed the Amorites into forced labor.

For your servant knows that I have sinned, so here I am today as the first of all the house of Joseph to come down to meet my lord the king.”

Now Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor. So when Solomon noticed that the young man was industrious, he put him in charge of the whole labor force of the house of Joseph.

Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.

These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright.

And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph.