Joshua 18:1-21:12

English Standard Version

Allotment of the Remaining Land

18 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at ^(A)Shiloh and set up ^(B)the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

²There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. ³So Joshua said to the people of Israel, ^(C)“How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? ⁴Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. ⁵They shall divide it into seven portions. ^(D)Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, ^(E)and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. ⁶And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. ^(F)And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷^(G)The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage. ^(H)And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”

⁸So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.” ⁹So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰and Joshua ^(I)cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, ^(J)to each his portion.

The Inheritance for Benjamin

¹¹The lot of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to its clans came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. ¹²^(K)On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. ^(L)Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of ^(M)Beth-aven. ¹³From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of ^(N)Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to ^(O)Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower ^(P)Beth-horon. ¹⁴Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the ^(Q)western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (^(R)that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side. ¹⁵And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron,^[a] ^(S)to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. ¹⁶Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks ^(T)the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of ^(U)Rephaim. And it then goes down the ^(V)Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to ^(W)En-rogel. ¹⁷Then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it goes down to ^(X)the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, ¹⁸and passing on to the north of ^(Y)the shoulder of Beth-arabah^[b] it goes down to ^(Z)the Arabah. ¹⁹Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of ^(AA)Beth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of ^(AB)the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. ²⁰The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin, according to their clans, boundary by boundary all around.

²¹Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were ^(AC)Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²²Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: ²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zela, Haeleph, ^(AD)Jebus^[c] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah^[d] and Kiriath-jearim^[e]—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.

The Inheritance for Simeon

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, ^(AE)and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah. ²^(AF)And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages; ⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages, ⁸together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans. ⁹^(AG)The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

The Inheritance for Zebulun

¹⁰The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid. ¹¹Then their boundary goes up ^(AH)westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of ^(AI)Jokneam. ¹²From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia. ¹³From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah, ¹⁴then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel; ¹⁵and Kattath, Nahalal, ^(AJ)Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages. ¹⁶This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Issachar

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans. ¹⁸Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, ^(AK)Shunem, ¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez. ²²The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. ²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Asher

²⁴The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans. ²⁵Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches ^(AL)Carmel and Shihor-libnath, ²⁷then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to ^(AM)Cabul, ²⁸Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as ^(AN)Sidon the Great. ²⁹Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab,^[f] Achzib, ³⁰Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Naphtali

³²The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans. ³³And their boundary ran from Heleph, from ^(AO)the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan. ³⁴Then the boundary turns ^(AP)westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan. ³⁵The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, ^(AQ)Chinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, ^(AR)Hazor, ³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities with their villages. ³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Dan

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans. ⁴¹And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴²^(AS)Shaalabbin, ^(AT)Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against ^(AU)Joppa. ⁴⁷When ^(AV)the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. ⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Joshua

⁴⁹When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰By command of the Lord they gave him the city that he asked, ^(AW)Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

⁵¹^(AX)These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot ^(AY)at Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

The Cities of Refuge

20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ²“Say to the people of Israel, ^(AZ)‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand ^(BA)at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. ⁵And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. ⁶And he shall remain in that city ^(BB)until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”

⁷So they set apart ^(BC)Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and ^(BD)Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and ^(BE)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) ^(BF)in the hill country of Judah. ⁸And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed ^(BG)Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and ^(BH)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^(BI)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and ^(BJ)for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi

21 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came ^(BK)to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. ²And they said to them ^(BL)at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, ^(BM)“The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” ³So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.

⁴The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest ^(BN)received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

⁵And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot ^(BO)from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

⁶The ^(BP)Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

⁷The ^(BQ)Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

⁸These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel ^(BR)gave by lot to the Levites, ^(BS)as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, ¹⁰which went to ^(BT)the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. ¹¹^(BU)They gave them ^(BV)Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, ^(BW)in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. ¹²But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.