161 And the lot for the sons of Joseph goeth out from Jordan 'by' Jericho, to the waters of Jericho on the east, to the wilderness going up from Jericho in the hill-country of Beth-El, 2 and hath gone out from Beth-El to Luz, and passed over unto the border of Archi 'to' Ataroth, 3 and gone down westward unto the border of Japhleti, unto the border of Beth-Horon the lower, and unto Gezer, and its outgoings have been at the sea. 4 And the sons of Joseph—Manasseh and Ephraim—inherit.
5 And the border of the sons of Ephraim is by their families; and the border of their inheritance is on the east, Atroth-Addar unto Beth-Horon the upper; 6 and the border hath gone out at the sea, to Michmethah on the north, and the border hath gone round eastward 'to' Taanath-Shiloh, and passed over it eastward to Janohah, 7 and gone down from Janohah 'to' Ataroth, and to Naarath, and touched against Jericho, and gone out at the Jordan. 8 From Tappuah the border goeth westward unto the brook of Kanah, and its outgoings have been at the sea: this 'is' the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Ephraim, for their families. 9 And the separate cities of the sons of Ephraim 'are' in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Manasseh, all the cities and their villages; 10 and they have not dispossessed the Canaanite who is dwelling in Gezer, and the Canaanite dwelleth in the midst of Ephraim unto this day, and is to tribute—a servant.
171 And the lot is for the tribe of Manasseh (for he 'is' first-born of Joseph), for Machir first-born of Manasseh, father of Gilead, for he hath been a man of war, and his are Gilead and Bashan. 2 And there is for the sons of Manasseh who are left, for their families; for the sons of Abiezer, and for the sons of Helek, and for the sons of Asriel, and for the sons of Shechem, and for the sons of Hepher, and for the sons of Shemida; these 'are' the children of Manasseh son of Joseph—the males—by their families. 3 As to Zelophehad, son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, he hath no children except daughters, and these 'are' the names of his daughters: Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah, 4 and they draw near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, 'Jehovah commanded Moses to give to us an inheritance in the midst of our brethren;' and he giveth to them, at the command of Jehovah, an inheritance in the midst of the brethren of their father. 5 And ten portions fall 'to' Manasseh, apart from the land of Gilead and Bashan, which 'are' beyond the Jordan; 6 for the daughters of Manasseh have inherited an inheritance in the midst of his sons, and the land of Gilead hath been to the sons of Manasseh who are left.
7 And the border of Manasseh is from Asher to Michmethah, which 'is' on the front of Shechem, and the border hath gone on unto the right, unto the inhabitants of En-Tappuah. 8 To Manasseh hath been the land of Tappuah, and Tappuah unto the border of Manasseh is to the sons of Ephraim. 9 And the border hath come down 'to' the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook; these cities of Ephraim 'are' in the midst of the cities of Manasseh, and the border of Manasseh 'is' on the north of the brook, and its outgoings are at the sea. 10 Southward 'is' to Ephraim and northward to Manasseh, and the sea is his border, and in Asher they meet on the north, and in Issachar on the east. 11 And Manasseh hath in Issachar and in Asher, Beth-Shean and its towns, and Ibleam and its towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of En-Dor and its towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and its towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and its towns, three counties. 12 And the sons of Manasseh have not been able to occupy these cities, and the Canaanite is desirous to dwell in this land, 13 and it cometh to pass when the sons of Israel have been strong, that they put the Canaanite to tribute, and have not utterly dispossessed him.
14 And the sons of Joseph speak with Joshua, saying, 'Wherefore hast thou given to me an inheritance—one lot and one portion, and I a numerous people? hitherto hath Jehovah blessed me.' 15 And Joshua saith unto them, 'If thou 'art' a numerous people, go up for thee to the forest, then thou hast prepared for thee there, in the land of the Perizzite, and of the Rephaim, when mount Ephraim hath been narrow for thee.' 16 And the sons of Joseph say, 'The hill is not found to us, and a chariot of iron 'is' with every Canaanite who is dwelling in the land of the valley—to him who 'is' in Beth-Shean and its towns, and to him who 'is' in the valley of Jezreel.' 17 And Joshua speaketh unto the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, 'Thou 'art' a numerous people, and hast great power; thou hast not one lot 'only', 18 because the mountain is thine; because it 'is' a forest—thou hast prepared it, and its outgoings have been thine; because thou dost dispossess the Canaanite, though it hath chariots of iron—though it 'is' strong.'
181 And all the company of the sons of Israel are assembled 'at' Shiloh, and they cause the tent of meeting to tabernacle there, and the land hath been subdued before them.
2 And there are left among the sons of Israel who have not shared their inheritance, seven tribes, 3 and Joshua saith unto the sons of Israel, 'Till when are ye remiss to go in to possess the land which He hath given to you, Jehovah, God of your fathers? 4 Give for you three men for a tribe, and I send them, and they rise and go up and down through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance, and come in unto me, 5 and they have divided it into seven portions—Judah doth stay by its border on the south, and the house of Joseph do stay by their border on the north— 6 and ye describe the land 'in' seven portions, and have brought 'it' in unto me hither, and I have cast for you a lot here before Jehovah our God; 7 for there is no portion to the Levites in your midst, for the priesthood of Jehovah 'is' their inheritance, and Gad, and Reuben, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses servant of Jehovah gave to them.' 8 And the men rise and go; and Joshua commandeth those who are going to describe the land, saying, 'Go, and walk up and down through the land, and describe it, and turn back unto me, and here I cast for you a lot before Jehovah in Shiloh.' 9 And the men go, and pass over through the land, and describe it by cities, in seven portions, on a book, and they come in unto Joshua, unto the camp, 'at' Shiloh. 10 And Joshua casteth for them a lot in Shiloh before Jehovah, and there Joshua apportioneth the land to the sons of Israel, according to their divisions.
11 And a lot goeth up 'for' the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, for their families; and the border of their lot goeth out between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 And the border is to them at the north side from the Jordan, and the border hath gone up unto the side of Jericho on the north, and gone up through the hill-country westward, and its outgoings have been at the wilderness of Beth-Aven; 13 and the border hath gone over thence to Luz, unto the side of Luz (it 'is' Beth-El) southward, and the border hath gone down 'to' Atroth-Addar, by the hill that 'is' on the south of the lower Beth-Horon; 14 and the border hath been marked out, and hath gone round to the corner of the sea southward, from the hill which 'is' at the front of Beth-Horon southward, and its outgoings have been unto Kirjath-Baal (it 'is' Kirjath-Jearim), a city of the sons of Judah: this 'is' the west quarter. 15 And the south quarter 'is' from the end of Kirjath-Jearim, and the border hath gone out westward, and gone out unto the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah; 16 and the border hath come down unto the extremity of the hill which 'is' on the front of the valley of the son of Hinnom, which 'is' in the valley of the Rephaim northward, and hath gone down the valley of Hinnom unto the side of Jebusi southward, and gone down 'to' En-Rogel, 17 and hath been marked out on the north, and gone out to En-Shemesh, and gone out unto Geliloth, which 'is' over-against the ascent of Adummim, and gone down 'to' the stone of Bohan son of Reuben, 18 and passed over unto the side over-against Arabah northward, and gone down to Arabah; 19 and the border hath passed over unto the side of Beth-Hoglah northward, and the outgoings of the border have been unto the north bay of the salt sea, unto the south extremity of the Jordan; this 'is' the south border; 20 and the Jordan doth border it at the east quarter; this 'is' the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, by its borders round about, for their families. 21 And the cities for the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, for their families, have been Jericho, and Beth-Hoglah, and the valley of Keziz, 22 and Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, and Beth-El, 23 and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, 24 and Chephar-Haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities and their villages. 25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth, 26 and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah, 27 and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah, 28 and Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi (it 'is' Jerusalem), Gibeath, Kirjath: fourteen cities and their villages. This 'is' the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, for their families.
21 And it came to pass in those days, there went forth a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world be enrolled— 2 this enrollment first came to pass when Cyrenius was governor of Syria— 3 and all were going to be enrolled, each to his proper city, 4 and Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, that is called Bethlehem, because of his being of the house and family of David, 5 to enroll himself with Mary his betrothed wife, being with child. 6 And it came to pass, in their being there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth, 7 and she brought forth her son—the first-born, and wrapped him up, and laid him down in the manger, because there was not for them a place in the guest-chamber.
8 And there were shepherds in the same region, lodging in the field, and keeping the night-watches over their flock, 9 and lo, a messenger of the Lord stood over them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they feared a great fear. 10 And the messenger said to them, 'Fear not, for lo, I bring you good news of great joy, that shall be to all the people— 11 because there was born to you to-day a Saviour—who is Christ the Lord—in the city of David, 12 and this 'is' to you the sign: Ye shall find a babe wrapped up, lying in the manger.' 13 And suddenly there came with the messenger a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 14 'Glory in the highest to God, and upon earth peace, among men—good will.' 15 And it came to pass, when the messengers were gone away from them to the heavens, that the men, the shepherds, said unto one another, 'We may go over indeed unto Bethlehem, and see this thing that hath come to pass, that the Lord did make known to us.' 16 And they came, having hasted, and found both Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in the manger, 17 and having seen, they made known abroad concerning the saying spoken to them concerning the child. 18 And all who heard, did wonder concerning the things spoken by the shepherds unto them; 19 and Mary was preserving all these things, pondering in her heart; 20 and the shepherds turned back, glorifying and praising God, for all those things they heard and saw, as it was spoken unto them.
21 And when eight days were fulfilled to circumcise the child, then was his name called Jesus, having been so called by the messenger before his being conceived in the womb. 22 And when the days of their purification were fulfilled, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present to the Lord, 23 as it hath been written in the Law of the Lord,—'Every male opening a womb shall be called holy to the Lord,' 24 and to give a sacrifice, according to that said in the Law of the Lord, 'A pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons.'
(Read Luke 2:1-7)
The fulness of time was now come, when God would send forth his Son, made of a woman, and made under the law. The circumstances of his birth were very mean. Christ was born at an inn; he came into the world to sojourn here for awhile, as at an inn, and to teach us to do likewise. We are become by sin like an outcast infant, helpless and forlorn; and such a one was Christ. He well knew how unwilling we are to be meanly lodged, clothed, or fed; how we desire to have our children decorated and indulged; how apt the poor are to envy the rich, and how prone the rich to disdain the poor. But when we by faith view the Son of God being made man and lying in a manger, our vanity, ambition, and envy are checked. We cannot, with this object rightly before us, seek great things for ourselves or our children.
(Read Luke 2:8-20)
Angels were heralds of the new-born Saviour, but they were only sent to some poor, humble, pious, industrious shepherds, who were in the business of their calling, keeping watch over their flock. We are not out of the way of Divine visits, when we are employed in an honest calling, and abide with God in it. Let God have the honour of this work; Glory to God in the highest. God's good-will to men, manifested in sending the Messiah, redounds to his praise. Other works of God are for his glory, but the redemption of the world is for his glory in the highest. God's goodwill in sending the Messiah, brought peace into this lower world. Peace is here put for all that good which flows to us from Christ's taking our nature upon him. This is a faithful saying, attested by an innumerable company of angels, and well worthy of all acceptation, That the good-will of God toward men, is glory to God in the highest, and peace on the earth. The shepherds lost no time, but came with haste to the place. They were satisfied, and made known abroad concerning this child, that he was the Saviour, even Christ the Lord. Mary carefully observed and thought upon all these things, which were so suited to enliven her holy affections. We should be more delivered from errors in judgment and practice, did we more fully ponder these things in our hearts. It is still proclaimed in our ears that to us is born a Saviour, Christ the Lord. These should be glad tidings to all.
(Read Luke 2:21-24)
Our Lord Jesus was not born in sin, and did not need that mortification of a corrupt nature, or that renewal unto holiness, which were signified by circumcision. This ordinance was, in his case, a pledge of his future perfect obedience to the whole law, in the midst of sufferings and temptations, even unto death for us. At the end of forty days, Mary went up to the temple to offer the appointed sacrifices for her purification. Joseph also presented the holy child Jesus, because, as a first-born son, he was to be presented to the Lord, and redeemed according to the law. Let us present our children to the Lord who gave them to us, beseeching him to redeem them from sin and death, and make them holy to himself.
