Your two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I came to you in Egypt are now mine. Ephraim and Manasseh belong to me just as Reuben and Simeon do.
The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock.
‘They will be mine,’ says the Lord of Armies, ‘my own possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
‘ “Then I passed by you and saw you, and you were indeed at the age for love. So I spread the edge of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged myself to you, entered into a covenant with you #– #this is the declaration of the Lord God #– #and you became mine.
Now this is what the Lord says – the one who created you, Jacob, and the one who formed you, Israel – ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine.
This is what the Lord God says: ‘This is the border you will use to divide the land as an inheritance for the twelve tribes of Israel. Joseph will receive two shares.