Joshua 20–22

The Cities of Refuge

20^*Then the Lord told Joshua ^2*to say to the people of Israel, “Choose the cities of refuge that I commanded Moses to tell you about. ^3*A person who kills someone accidentally can go there and escape the one who is looking for revenge. ^4*He or she can run away to one of these cities, go to the place of judgement at the entrance to the city, and explain to the leaders what happened. Then they will let him or her into the city and give them a place to live in, so that they can stay there. ^5*If the one looking for revenge follows them there, the people of the city must not hand them over to them. They must protect them because they killed the person accidentally and not out of anger. ^6*They may stay in the city until they have received a public trial and until the death of the man who is then the High Priest. Then they may go back home to their own town, from which they had run away.”

^7*So, on the west side of the Jordan they set aside Kedesh in Galilee, in the hill country of Naphtali; Shechem, in the hill country of Ephraim; and Hebron, in the hill country of Judah. ^8*East of the Jordan, on the desert plateau east of Jericho, they chose Bezer in the territory of Reuben; Ramoth in Gilead, in the territory of Gad; and Golan in Bashan, in the territory of Manasseh. ^9*These were the cities of refuge chosen for all the people of Israel and for any foreigner living among them. Anyone who killed a person accidentally could find protection there from the one looking for revenge; no one could be killed without first receiving a public trial.

The Cities of the Levites

21The leaders of the Levite families went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the families of all the tribes of Israel. ^2*There at Shiloh in the land of Canaan they said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we were to be given cities to live in, as well as pasture land round them for our livestock.” ³So in accordance with the Lord’s command the people of Israel gave the Levites certain cities and pasture lands out of their own territories.

⁴The families of the Levite clan of Kohath were the first to be assigned cities. The families who were descended from Aaron the priest were assigned thirteen cities from the territories of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵The rest of the clan of Kohath was assigned ten cities from the territories of Ephraim, Dan, and West Manasseh.

⁶The clan of Gershon was assigned thirteen cities from the territories of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and East Manasseh.

⁷The families of the clan of Merari were assigned twelve cities from the territories of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸By drawing lots,^o the people of Israel assigned these cities and their pasture lands to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹These are the names of the cities from the territories of Judah and Simeon which were given ¹⁰to the descendants of Aaron who were of the clan of Kohath, which was descended from Levi. Their assignment was the first to be made. ¹¹They were given the city of Arba (Arba was Anak’s father), now called Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture land surrounding it. ¹²However, the fields of the city, as well as its towns, had already been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³In addition to Hebron (one of the cities of refuge), the following cities were assigned to the descendants of Aaron the priest: Libnah, ¹⁴Jattir, Eshtemoa, ¹⁵Holon, Debir, ¹⁶Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, with their pasture lands: nine cities from the tribes of Judah and Simeon. ¹⁷From the territory of Benjamin they were given four cities: Gibeon, Geba, ¹⁸Anathoth, and Almon, with their pasture lands. ¹⁹Thirteen cities in all, with their pasture lands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

²⁰The other families of the Levite clan of Kohath were assigned some cities from the territory of Ephraim. ²¹They were given four cities: Shechem and its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim (one of the cities of refuge), Gezer, ²²Kibzaim, and Beth Horon, with their pasture lands. ²³From the territory of Dan they were given four cities: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, ²⁴Aijalon, and Gathrimmon, with their pasture lands. ²⁵From the territory of West Manasseh they were given two cities: Taanach and Gathrimmon, with their pasture lands. ²⁶These families of the clan of Kohath received ten cities in all, with their pasture lands.

²⁷Another group of Levites, the clan of Gershon, received from the territory of East Manasseh two cities: Golan in Bashan (one of the cities of refuge) and Beeshterah, with their pasture lands. ²⁸From the territory of Issachar they received four cities: Kishion, Daberath, ²⁹Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their pasture lands. ³⁰From the territory of Asher they received four cities: Mishal, Abdon, ³¹Helkath, and Rehob, with their pasture lands. ³²From the territory of Naphtali they received three cities: Kedesh in Galilee, with its pasture lands (one of the cities of refuge), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, with their pasture lands. ³³The various families of the clan of Gershon received a total of thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴The rest of the Levites, the clan of Merari, received from the territory of Zebulun four cities: Jokneam, Kartah, ³⁵Dimnah, and Nahalal, with their pasture lands. ³⁶From the territory of Reuben they received four cities: Bezer, Jahaz, ³⁷Kedemoth, and Mephaath, with their pasture lands. ³⁸From the tribe of Gad they received four cities: Ramoth in Gilead, with its pasture lands (one of the cities of refuge), Mahanaim, ³⁹Heshbon, and Jazer, with their pasture lands. ⁴⁰So the clan of Merari was assigned a total of twelve cities.

^41–42From the land that the people of Israel possessed, a total of 48 cities, with the pasture lands round them, was given to the Levites.

Israel Takes Possession of the Land

⁴³So the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he had solemnly promised their ancestors he would give them. When they had taken possession of it, they settled down there. ⁴⁴The Lord gave them peace throughout the land, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies had been able to stand against them, because the Lord gave the Israelites the victory over all their enemies. ⁴⁵The Lord kept every one of the promises that he had made to the people of Israel.

Joshua Sends the Eastern Tribes Home

22Then Joshua called together the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh. ^2*He said to them, “You have done everything that Moses the Lord’s servant ordered you to do, and you have obeyed all my commands. ³All this time you have never once deserted your fellow-Israelites. You have been careful to obey the commands of the Lord your God. ⁴Now, as he promised, the Lord your God has given your fellow-Israelites peace. So go back home to the land which you claimed for your own, the land on the east side of the Jordan, that Moses, the Lord’s servant, gave you. ⁵Make sure you obey the law that Moses commanded you: love the Lord your God, do his will, obey his commandments, be faithful to him, and serve him with all your heart and soul.” ^6–8Joshua sent them home with his blessing and with these words: “You are going back home very rich, with a lot of livestock, silver, gold, bronze, iron, and many clothes. Share with your fellow-tribesmen what you took from your enemies.” Then they left for home.

Moses had given land east of the Jordan to one half of the tribe of Manasseh, but to the other half Joshua had given land west of the Jordan, along with the other tribes.

⁹So the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh went back home. They left the rest of the people of Israel at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and started out for their own land, the land of Gilead, which they had taken as the Lord had commanded them through Moses.

The Altar by the Jordan

¹⁰When the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh arrived at Geliloth, still on the west side^p of the Jordan, they built a large, impressive altar there by the river. ¹¹The rest of the people of Israel were told, “Listen! The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh have built an altar at Geliloth, on our side of the Jordan!” ¹²When the people of Israel heard this, the whole community came together at Shiloh to go to war against the eastern tribes.

¹³Then the people of Israel sent Phinehas, the son of Eleazar the priest, to the people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh in the land of Gilead. ¹⁴Ten leading men went with Phinehas, one from each of the western tribes and each one the head of a family among the clans. ¹⁵They came to the land of Gilead, to the people of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh, ^16*and speaking for the whole community of the Lord, they said to them, “Why have you done this evil thing against the God of Israel? You have rebelled against the Lord by building this altar for yourselves! You are no longer following him! ^17*Remember our sin at Peor, when the Lord punished his own people with an epidemic? We are still suffering because of that. Wasn’t that sin enough? ¹⁸Are you going to refuse to follow him now? If you rebel against the Lord today, he will be angry with everyone in Israel tomorrow. ¹⁹Now then, if your land is not fit to worship in, come over into the Lord’s land, where his Tent is. Claim some land among us. But don’t rebel against the Lord or make rebels out of us by building an altar in addition to the altar of the Lord our God. ^20*Remember how Achan son of Zerah refused to obey the command about the things condemned to destruction; the whole community of Israel was punished for that. Achan was not the only one who died because of his sin.”

²¹The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh answered the heads of the families of the western tribes: ²²“The Mighty One is God! He is the Lord! The Mighty One is God! He is the Lord! He knows why we did this, and we want you to know too! If…