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Towns for the Levites

21 The heads of the ·Levite families [L fathers of the Levites] went to talk to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ·families [fathers] of all the tribes of Israel. At Shiloh in the land of Canaan, they said to them, “The Lord commanded Moses that you give us towns where we may live and pastures for our animals.” So the Israelites obeyed this command of the Lord and gave the Levite people these towns and pastures ·for their own land [L from their own inheritance/possessions]: The Kohath ·family groups [clans] were part of the tribe of Levi [C the three sons of Levi were Kohath, Gershom, and Merari; Ex. 6:16; Num. 3:17]. Some of the Levites in the Kohath ·family groups [clans] were from the family of Aaron the priest. To these Levites were ·given [allotted; given by lot] thirteen towns in the areas of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The ·other family groups [L rest of the sons/descendants] of Kohath were given ten towns in the areas of Ephraim, Dan, and ·West [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh.

The ·people from the Gershon family groups [L sons/descendants of Gershom] were given thirteen towns ·in the land [L from the clans of the tribe] of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the East Manasseh in Bashan.

The ·family groups [L clans of the sons/descendants] of Merari were given twelve towns in the areas of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

So the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] gave the Levites these towns and the pastures around them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

These are the names of the towns that came from the ·lands [L tribe of the sons/descendants] of Judah and Simeon. 10 The first ·choice of towns [L lot] was given to the Kohath ·family groups [clans] of the Levites. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron, and all its pastures in the ·mountains [hill country] of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) 12 But the fields and the villages around Kiriath Arba had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh [L as his possession].

13 So they gave the city of Hebron to the descendants of Aaron (Hebron was a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer]). They also gave them the towns of Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, and all the pastures around them. Nine towns were given from these two tribes.

17 ·They also gave the people of Aaron these cities that belonged to [L And from] the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth, and Almon. They gave them these four towns and the pastures around them.

19 So these thirteen towns with their pastures were given to the priests, who were from the ·family [L sons; descendants] of Aaron.

20 The other Kohathite ·family groups [clans] of the Levites were ·given [allotted] these towns from the tribe of Ephraim: 21 Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim (which was a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Gezer, 22 Kibzaim, and Beth Horon. There were four towns and their pastures.

23 The tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. There were four towns and their pastures.

25 ·West [L The half-tribe of] Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath Rimmon and the pastures around these two towns.

26 So these ten towns and the pastures around them were given to the rest of the Kohathite ·family groups [clans].

27 The Gershonite ·family groups [clans] of the Levite tribe were given these towns: ·East [L The half-tribe of] Manasseh gave them Golan in Bashan, which was a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer], and Be Eshtarah, and the pastures around these two towns.

28 The tribe of Issachar gave them Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth, and En Gannim, and the pastures around these four towns.

30 The tribe of Asher gave them Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath, and Rehob, and the pastures around these four towns.

32 The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee (a city of ·safety [refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, and the pastures around these three towns.

33 So the Gershonite ·family groups [clans] received thirteen towns and the pastures around them.

34 The Merarite ·family groups [clans] (the rest of the Levites) were given these towns: The tribe of Zebulun gave them Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah, and Nahalal, and the pastures around these four towns.

36 The tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath, along with the pastures around these four towns.

38 The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead (a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon, and Jazer, and the pastures around these four towns.

40 So the total number of towns given to the Merarite ·family groups [clans] was twelve.

41 A total of forty-eight towns with their pastures in the ·land [L midst of the possession of the sons/T children of Israel] of Israel were given to the Levites. 42 Each town had pastures around it [L this was true of all the cities].

43 So the Lord gave ·the people [L Israel] all the land he had promised their ancestors. The people took the land and lived there. 44 The Lord gave them ·peace [rest] on all sides, as he had ·promised [sworn to] their ancestors. None of their enemies ·defeated [could resist] them; the Lord handed all their enemies ·over to them [L into their hands]. 45 He kept every promise he had made to the Israelites; each one came true.

21 Then the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “Yahweh commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.”

The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their pasture lands. The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin. The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh. The children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun. The children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levites, as Yahweh commanded by Moses. They gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are mentioned by name: 10 and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands around it. 12 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. 13 To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15 Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, 16 Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities out of those two tribes. 17 Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities. 19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

20 The families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 They gave them Shechem with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth Horon with its pasture lands: four cities. 23 Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: four cities. 25 Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities. 26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their pasture lands.

27 They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two cities. 28 Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En Gannim with its pasture lands: four cities. 30 Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31 Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four cities. 32 Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

34 To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four cities. 36 Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four cities. 38 Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands: four cities in all. 40 All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities.

41 All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42 Each of these cities included their pasture lands around them. It was this way with all these cities.

43 So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it. 44 Yahweh gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 Nothing failed of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.