Joshua 21

Lexham English Bible

The Allotment of the Levites

21 Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites.^{[a] 2} And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.” ³ So, by command of Yahweh,^[b] the Israelites^[c] gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands from their inheritance.

⁴ The allotment fell^[d] for the families of the Kohathites.^[e] The descendants^[f] of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, received^[g] by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

⁵ The remaining descendants^[h] of Kohath received by lot ten cities from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ The descendants^[i] of Gershon received by lot thirteen cities from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, and Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ The descendants^[j] of the Merarites^[k] according to their families received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸ The Israelites^[l] gave to the Levites these cities and their pastureland by lot, just as Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses.

⁹ They gave these cities, which are here mentioned by name, from the tribe of the families of Judah and from the tribe of the families of Simeon; ¹⁰ and they were for the descendants^[m] of Aaron, from the families of the Kohathites,^[n] from the descendants^[o] of Levi, because the first lot was theirs. ¹¹ And they gave to them Kiriath Arba,^[p] Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah and the pasturelands surrounding it. ¹² But the field of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his property.

¹³ To the descendants^[q] of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, Libnah and its pasturelands, ¹⁴ Jattir and its pasturelands, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands, ¹⁵ Holon and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands, ¹⁶ Ain and its pasturelands, Juttah and its pasturelands, and Beth Shemesh and its pasturelands; nine cities from these two tribes. ¹⁷ From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and its pasturelands, Geba and its pasturelands, ¹⁸ Anathoth and its pasturelands, Almon and its pasturelands; four cities. ¹⁹ All the cities of the descendants^[r] of Aaron the priests, thirteen cities and their pasturelands.

²⁰ For the families of the descendants^[s] of Kohath, the remaining Levites of the descendants^[t] of Kohath, they received the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer and its pasturelands, ²² Kibzaim and its pasturelands, and Beth-horon and its pasturelands; four cities. ²³ From the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its pasturelands, Gibbethon and its pasturelands, ²⁴ Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon and its pasturelands; four cities. ²⁵ From the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its pasturelands and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands; two cities. ²⁶ All the cities and their pasturelands for the remaining families of the descendants^[u] of Kohath were ten.

²⁷ To the descendants^[v] of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, and Eshtarah and its pasturelands; two cities. ²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, ²⁹ Jarmuth and its pasturelands, En Gannim and its pasturelands; four cities. ³⁰ From the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, ³¹ Helkath and its pasturelands, Rehob and its pasturelands; four cities. ³² From the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, Hammoth Dor and its pasturelands, and Kartan and its pasturelands; three cities. ³³ All the cities of the Gershonites^[w] according to their families were thirteen cities and their pasturelands.

³⁴ To the families of the descendants^[x] of Merarite, the remaining Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its pasturelands, Kartah and its pasturelands, ³⁵ Dimnah and its pasturelands, and Nahalal and its pasturelands; four cities. ³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its pasturelands, Jahaz and its pasturelands, ³⁷ Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands; four cities. ³⁸ From the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the killer, and its pasturelands, Mahanaim and its pasturelands, ³⁹ Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands; four cities in all. ⁴⁰ All these were the cities of the descendants^[y] of Merarite according to their families, the remaining families of the Levites; their allotment was twelve cities.

⁴¹ All the cities of the Levites among the property of the Israelites^[z] were forty-eight cities and their pasturelands. ⁴² Each of these cities had pasturelands surrounding them; so it was for all of these cities. ⁴³ And Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their ancestors,^[aa] and they took possession of it and settled in it.^{[ab] 44} Yahweh gave them rest on every side, according to all that he had sworn to their ancestors,^[ac] and nobody from all their enemies withstood them, for Yahweh had given all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵ And nothing failed from^[ad] all the good things^[ae] that Yahweh promised to the house of Israel; everything came to pass.^[af]