Joshua 13

Common English Bible

Land still unconquered

13 Now Joshua had reached old age. The Lord said to him, “You have reached old age, but much of the land remains to be taken over. ² This is the land that remains: All the districts of the Philistines and all those of the Geshurites. ³ (The land stretching from the Shihor near Egypt northward as far as the Ekron territory is considered to be Canaanite. There are five rulers of the Philistines, for Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.) The land of the Avvites ⁴ in the south. The whole land of the Canaanites, along with Mearah, which belongs to the Sidonians, as far as Aphek and as far as the Amorite border. ⁵ The land of the Gebalites and the whole Lebanon eastward, stretching from Baal-gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath.

⁶ “I myself will remove the entire population of the highlands from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim before the Israelites, that is, all the Sidonians. You have only to allot it to Israel as a legacy exactly as I commanded you. ⁷ So now divide up this land as a legacy for the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh. You will give it out from the Jordan to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. The Mediterranean Sea is the border.^[a]”

Land east of the Jordan

⁸ As for the other half of the tribe of Manasseh,^[b] the Reubenites and Gadites together with it had already taken their legacy that Moses had given them on the east side of the Jordan. It was exactly what Moses the Lord’s servant had given them. ⁹ It ran from Aroer by the rim of the Arnon Valley and the city in the middle of the valley through the whole Medeba plateau as far as Dibon. ¹⁰ It included all the cities of the Amorites’ King Sihon, who ruled in Heshbon, as far as the Ammonite border. ¹¹ It also included Gilead and the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan as far as Salecah— ¹² the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan, who ruled in Ashtaroth and in Edrei. He survived as the last of the Rephaim. Moses had struck down and removed them. ¹³ But the Israelites didn’t remove the Geshurites or the Maacathites. So Geshur and Maacath still live among Israel today. ¹⁴ It was only to the tribe of Levi that he gave no legacy. Their legacy consists of the fire offerings for the Lord, the God of Israel, exactly as he had promised them.

For Reuben

¹⁵ Moses provided for the clans of the Reubenite tribe. ¹⁶ Their territory ran from Aroer by the rim of the Arnon Valley and the city in the middle of the ravine, and the whole plateau as far as Medeba. ¹⁷ It included Heshbon and all its cities that are on the plateau: Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah, the Zereth-shahar highlands, ²⁰ Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth. ²¹ It included all the cities of the plateau and the whole kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses had struck him down, along with Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the leaders of Midian. They had lived in the land as princes of Sihon. ²² In addition to those others slain, the Israelites killed the fortune-teller Balaam, Beor’s son, with the sword. ²³ The border of the people of Reuben was the Jordan and the territory next to it. This was the legacy of the people of Reuben—for their clans, their cities, and their settlements.

For Gad

²⁴ Moses provided for the clans of the Gadite tribe. ²⁵ Their territory was Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites as far as Aroer near Rabbah. ²⁶ It also ran from Heshbon as far as Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the territory of Lidebir. ²⁷ In the valley were Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon. This was the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon. It included the Jordan and the territory next to it up to the tip of the Chinnereth Sea on the east side of the Jordan. ²⁸ This was the legacy of the Gadites—for their clans, their cities, and their settlements.

For half of Manasseh

²⁹ Moses provided for half the tribe of Manasseh. It was for the clans in half the tribe of the people of Manasseh. ³⁰ Their territory ran from Mahanaim, all Bashan, the whole kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all sixty of the tent villages of Jair that are in Bashan. ³¹ Half of Gilead along with Ashtaroth and Edrei, cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan, belonged to the people of Machir son of Manasseh. It belonged to the clans for half of the people of Machir.

³² Moses assigned these territories when he was in the Moab plains on the other side of the Jordan, east of Jericho. ³³ But Moses gave no legacy to the tribe of Levi. The Lord God of Israel is their legacy, exactly as he promised them.