8(The land of Tappuah belongs to Manasseh, but Tappuah itself, on the border of Manasseh, belongs to Ephraim.)
9The 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.
10What 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.
11In 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.
12But Manasseh was not able to take possession of these cities since the Canaanites were determined to stay in this land.
13When the Israelites became strong enough, they made the Canaanites do forced labor, since they didn't force all of them out.
14Joseph'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." 15Joshua 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." 16Joseph'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." 17Then 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. 18The mountain region will be yours as well. It is a forest, so you will have to clear it. All of it will be yours. But you must force out the Canaanites, even though they are strong and have chariots made of iron."
