Joshua 19–21

The Inheritance for Simeon

19The 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. ^2qAnd 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. ^9rThe 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 ^swestward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of ^tJokneam. 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, ^uShimron, 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, ^vShunem, 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 ^wCarmel 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 ^xCabul, ²⁸Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as ^ySidon 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,¹ 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 ^zthe oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan. ³⁴Then the boundary turns ^awestward 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, ^bChinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, ^cHazor, 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, ^42dShaalabbin, ^dAijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against ^eJoppa. ⁴⁷When ^fthe 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, ^gTimnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

^51hThese 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 ⁱat Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

The Cities of Refuge

20Then the Lord said to Joshua, ²“Say to the people of Israel, ^j‘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 ^kat 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 ^luntil 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 ^mKedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and ⁿShechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and ^oKiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) ^pin the hill country of Judah. ⁸And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed ^qBezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and ^rRamoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^sGolan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and ^tfor 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

21Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came ^uto 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 ^vat Shiloh in the land of Canaan, ^w“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 ^xreceived by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

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

⁶The ^zGershonites 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 ^aMerarites 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 ^bgave by lot to the Levites, ^cas 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 ^dthe descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. ^11eThey gave them ^fKiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, ^gin 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.

¹³And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, ^hthe city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, ⁱLibnah with its pasturelands, ¹⁴Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, ¹⁵Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, ¹⁶Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; ¹⁷then out of the tribe of Benjamin, ^jGibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, ¹⁸Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. ¹⁹The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

^20kAs to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹To them were given Shechem, ^lthe city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, ²²Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its…