7
Manasseh's border extends from Asher to Michmethath, which faces Shechem. Then the border goes south toward the people who live in En Tappuah.
8
(The land of Tappuah belongs to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belongs to Ephraim.)
9
The border then descends southward to the Kanah River. These cities belong to Ephraim, although they are among Manasseh's cities. Manasseh's [southern] border is the river, which ends at the Mediterranean Sea.
10
What is south [of the river] belongs to Ephraim, and what is north [of it] belongs to Manasseh. So the Mediterranean Sea [is its western border], Asher its northern border, and Issachar its eastern border.
11
In Issachar and Asher, Manasseh possessed Beth Shean and Ibleam with their villages and the people living in Dor, En Dor, Taanach, and Megiddo and their villages. The last three are on mountain ridges.
12
But Manasseh was not able to take possession of these cities since the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.
13
When the Israelites became strong enough, they made the Canaanites do forced labor, since they didn't force all of them out.
14
Joseph's descendants asked Joshua, "Why did you give us only one region for an inheritance? We have a lot of people because the LORD has blessed us."
15
Joshua replied, "If there are so many of you, go into the forest! Clear ground for yourselves there in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim if the mountains of Ephraim are too confining for you."
16
Joseph's descendants responded, "The mountains are not enough for us either. Besides, all the Canaanites living in the valley, in Beth Shean and its villages, and in the valley of Jezreel have chariots made of iron."
17
Then Joshua said to the descendants of Joseph, [the tribes of] Ephraim and Manasseh, "You are an important and very powerful people. One region is really not enough for you.