Joshua 18:1–19:9
Allotment of the Remaining Land
18 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at pShiloh and set up qthe tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.
2 There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, r“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? 4 Provide 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. 5 They shall divide it into seven portions. sJudah shall continue in his territory on the south, tand the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. 6 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. uAnd I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 vThe Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage. wAnd 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.”
8 So 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.” 9 So 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, 10 and Joshua xcast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, yto each his portion.
11 The 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 zOn the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. aThen the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of bBeth-aven. 13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of cLuz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to dAtaroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower eBeth-horon. 14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the fwestern side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (gthat is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side. 15 And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron,1 gto the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks hthe Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of iRephaim. And it then goes down the hValley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to jEn-rogel. 17 Then 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 kthe stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 18 and passing on to the north of lthe shoulder of Beth-arabah2 it goes down to lthe Arabah. 19 Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of kBeth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of mthe Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. 20 The 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.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were nJericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, oJebus3 (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah4 and Kiriath-jearim5—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.
19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, pand their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah. 2 qAnd they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, 3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, 6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages; 7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages, 8 together 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 rThe 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.