Old/New Testament

The Division of the Land among the Tribes^[a]

Chapter 13

The Division Commanded by the Lord.¹ When Joshua had grown old and was well advanced in years, the Lord said to him, “You have grown old, and there is still quite a bit of the land that you must conquer.^{[b] 2} This is the part of the land that still remains: the territory of the Philistines and all of Geshur ³ from Sihor which lay near Egypt, to the territory of Ekron in the north (all of which is Canaanite). This is the territory of the five lords of the Philistines: of the Gazathites, of the Ashdodthites, of the Ash-kalonites, of the Gittites, of the Ekronites, that is, the Avites. ⁴ From the south, it includes all of the land of the Canaanites and Mearah, that belongs to the Sidonians, up to Aphek, to the boundary with the Amorites, ⁵ and it includes the land of the Gebalites and all of Lebanon to the east, from Baal-gad beneath Mount Hermon up to the entrance to Lebo-hamath. ⁶ There are also all of the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon up to Misrephoth-maim, that is, the land of the Sidonians. I myself will drive them out before the Israelites. You are to divide it among the Israelites as an inheritance as I have commanded you. ⁷ Divide this land as an inheritance among the nine tribes and one-half of the tribe of Manasseh.”

The Eastern Tribes. ⁸ The other half, the Reubenites and the Gadites, had already received their inheritance from Moses on the other side of the Jordan, to the east. Moses, the servant of God, gave it to them. ⁹ It began at Aroer on the banks of the Arnon River, from the city itself which is in the middle of the river, and it included the whole plain of Medeba as far as Dibon, ¹⁰ all of the cities of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, up to the boundary with the Ammonites, ¹¹ Gilead, the territory of the Geshurites and the Maachathites, all of Mount Hermon, all of Bashan up to Salecah, ¹² and all of the kingdom of Og in Bashan who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei (he was the last of the Rephaim). Moses defeated them and cast them out.

¹³ The Israelites did not cast out the Geshurites or the Maachathites. The Geshurites and the Maachathites dwell among the Israelites up to the present.^[c]

¹⁴ He did not give any inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The burnt offerings made to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he had told them.

¹⁵ The Tribe of Reuben. Moses had given an inheritance to the Reubenites dividing it according to their clans. ¹⁶ Their territory included Aroer on the banks of the Arnon River, from the city itself which is in the middle of the river, as well as the whole plain of Medeba, ¹⁷ Heshbon and all of its dependent towns in the plain: Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the mountain of the valley, ²⁰ Beth-peor, the slopes of the Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth. ²¹ These were all the cities of the plain, the entire kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. Moses had struck him down along with the princes of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, who were princes of Sihon dwelling in that land. ²² Among those who were slain was also Balaam, the son of Beor, whom the Israelites put to the sword. ²³ The boundary of the Reubenites was the banks of the Jordan. These towns and villages are the inheritance of the Reubenites, divided according to its clans.

²⁴ The Tribe of Gad. Moses gave an inheritance to the Gadites, dividing it according to their clans. ²⁵ It included the territory of Jezer, all of the cities of Gilead, and half of the land of the Ammonites that ran from Aroer near Rabbah ²⁶ and Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the boundary of Debir, ²⁷ and Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon in the valley, and the rest of the kingdom of Sihon, the king of Heshbon, with the boundary running along the banks of the Jordan up to the shores of the Sea of Chinnereth (on the eastern side of the Jordan). ²⁸ These cities and towns were the inheritance of the Gadites, divided according to its clans.

²⁹ The Half-tribe of Manasseh. This is what Moses gave to one of the halves of the tribe of Manasseh, that is, the tribe of half of the descendants of Manasseh, divided according to its clans. ³⁰ The territory started in Mahanaim and included all of Bashan, the entire territory of Og, the king of Bashan, and all of the town in Jair in Bashan, sixty towns in all, ³¹ as well as half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan. This was for the descendants of Machir, the son of Manasseh, for one-half of the descendants of the Machirites, divided according to its clans.

³² These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan, to the east of Jericho. ³³ But Moses did not give an inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The Lord, the God of Israel, was their inheritance, just as he had told them.

Chapter 14

¹ These are the inheritances that the Israelites received in the land of Canaan. Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the leaders of the ancestral tribes distributed it to them. ² The inheritance of the nine and one-half tribes was divided by lot just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³ Moses had given the inheritance to the two and one-half tribes on the other side of the Jordan. The Levites were not given an inheritance among them.

⁴ The descendants of Joseph belonged to two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites were not given an inheritance in the land, only cities in which they could dwell along with their pastures for their herds and their flocks. ⁵ The Israelites divided the land just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^[d]

Caleb’s Inheritance. ⁶ The Judahites came to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about me and you at Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of God, sent me out from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land. I brought him back a report that expressed what I felt, ⁸ but my brethren who went up with me caused the hearts of the people to melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord, my God, wholeheartedly. ⁹ On that day Moses made an oath stating, ‘The land upon which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, for you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord, my God.’ ¹⁰ The Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years since the Lord said this to Moses while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, as he promised. I am now eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am just as strong today as on the day that Moses sent me out. I am just as vigorous in going out to fight as I was then. ¹² Therefore, give me the hill country just as the Lord promised on that day. You yourself heard that day how the Anakim were there, and that their cities were large and well fortified, but if the Lord is with me, then I will be able to drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.”

¹³ Joshua blessed Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. ¹⁴ Hebron has belonged to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, as an inheritance ever since because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ (Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba. It was named after Arba, the greatest of the Anakim.)

There was then a respite from fighting in the land.

Chapter 15

The Tribe of Judah. ¹ The allotment for the tribe of the Judahites, divided according to its clans, extended to the boundary with Edom, down to the Desert of Zin in the extreme southern regions. ² Their southern boundary lie on the bay at the southern end of the Salt Sea. ³ It continued south of Akrabbim on to Zin, going up to the south of Kadesh-barnea past Hebron, up to Addar and it curved around to Karka. ⁴ It then passed along to Azmon out to the Wadi of Egypt, the border being on the sea. This shall be your southern boundary. ⁵ The eastern boundary was the Salt Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan.

The boundary of the northern quarter began at the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. ⁶ The boundary ran up to Beth-hoglah and passed to the north of Beth-arabah, and then it ran up to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben. ⁷ The boundary then went up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and then northward, in the direction of Gilgal that faces the Pass of Adummim on the south side of the river. The boundary then passed along the waters of En-shemesh until they flow out at En-rogel. ⁸ The boundary then runs along the Valley of Ben-hinnom to the south of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). From there the boundary climbs up to the top of the mountain that lies to the west of the Hinnom Valley at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. ⁹ The boundary then runs from the top of the hill down to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, going along to the cities of Mount Ephron, continuing down to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). ¹⁰ The boundary then curves westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, running along the northern slopes of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), down to Beth-shemesh and over to Timnah. ¹¹ The boundary runs along the northern slopes of Ekron, passing on to Shikkeron, running along Mount Baalah and reaching up to Jabneel. This boundary ends at the sea. ¹² The western boundary lies along the shore of the Great Sea.^[e] This is the boundary that runs around the Judahites according to their clans.

¹³ Conquest by Caleb. Joshua gave Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, an inheritance among the Judahites, as the Lord had commanded: Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the forefather of the Anak.) ¹⁴ Caleb drove the three Anakim out from it, that is Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. They were descendants of Anak. ¹⁵ From there he marched out against the people living in Debir. (Debir was previously called Kiriath-sepher.) ^16 [f]Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” ¹⁷ Othniel, the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it, so he gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. ¹⁸ One day she went up to him and she urged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What can I do for you?” ¹⁹ She answered, “Please do me a favor. Since you have already given me land in the Negeb, give me some springs as well.” He gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

²⁰ The Cities of Judah. This is the inheritance of the Judahites, divided according to its clans. ²¹ The cities at the edge of the land of the Judahites in the direction of the boundary with Edom in the south were: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²² Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³ Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴ Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵ Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶ Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷ Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, ²⁸ Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹ Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰ Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹ Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³² Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. All together there were twenty-nine cities along with the towns dependent upon them.

³³ On the western slopes there were: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴ Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵ Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶ Shaaraim, Adithaim, and Gederah (that is, Gederothaim). There were fourteen of these cities along with their dependent towns. ³⁷ There were also Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, ³⁸ Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, ³⁹ Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰ Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish, ⁴¹ Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah. There were sixteen of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁴² There were also Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³ Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴ Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah. There were nine of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁴⁵ There was also Ekron with its dependent towns, ⁴⁶ and the territory between Ekron and the sea, near Ashdod, with all of their dependent towns. ⁴⁷ There was Ashdod along with its dependent towns and villages, as well as Gaza along with its dependent towns and villages, all the way to the Wadi of Egypt and the coast of the Great Sea.

⁴⁸ In the mountains there were Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹ Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰ Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹ Goshen, Holon, and Giloh. There were eleven of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁵² There were also Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³ Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴ Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior. There were nine of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁵⁵ There were also Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶ Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷ Kain, Gibbeah, and Timnah. There were ten of these cities along with their dependent towns. ⁵⁸ There were also Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹ Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon. There were six of these cities, along with their dependent towns. ⁶⁰ There were also Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah. There were two of these cities along with their dependent towns.

⁶¹ In the wilderness there were Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶² Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi. There were six of these cities, along with their dependent towns. ⁶³ The Judahites could not drive out the Jebusites, the people who were living in Jerusalem. The Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the Judahites up to the present.

⁵⁷ The Birth of John. When the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, she bore a son. ⁵⁸ Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy to her, and they shared in her rejoicing.

⁵⁹ On the eighth day, when they came to circumcise the child, they were going to name him Zechariah after his father. ⁶⁰ However, his mother objected. “No,” she said. “He is to be called John.” ⁶¹ They said to her, “There is no one in your family who has this name.” ⁶² They then made signs to his father to ask what name he wanted to be given to the child. ⁶³ He asked for a writing tablet, and he wrote: “His name is John.” They were all filled with wonder.

⁶⁴ Immediately, his mouth was opened and his tongue was freed, and he began to speak, giving praise to God. ⁶⁵ All their neighbors were overcome with awe, and all these things were related throughout the entire hill country of Judea. ⁶⁶ All who heard them were deeply impressed, and they wondered, “What then is this child going to be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

⁶⁷ The Canticle of Zechariah.^[a] Then the child’s father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:

⁸⁰ The Son of the Wilderness. The child grew and became strong in spirit. He lived in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.