Joshua 13–21

13TH CHAPTER

Land Yet to Be Conquered

¹Joshua was old, near the end of his life. So the Lord said to him, “You are old, near the end of your life, and there is a lot of land left to be conquered. ²The land that is left includes all the districts that belong to the Philistines and Geshur. ³It extends from the Shihor River, east of Egypt, northward as far as the border of Ekron. This is considered to be Canaanite territory, even though there are five Philistine rulers over Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as the Avvim people ⁴in the south. This territory includes all the land of the Canaanites as well as Mearah which belongs to Sidon as far as Aphek, the Amorite border. ⁵It also includes the land of the people of Gebal, all Lebanon eastward from Baal Gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to the border of Hamath. ⁶I will force out of the way of the people of Israel everyone who lives in the mountains from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim and all the people of Sidon. However, you must distribute the land as an inheritance to Israel by drawing lots, as I commanded you. ⁷So divide this land. It will be an inheritance for the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.” 

Tribes That Received Land East of the Jordan River

⁸The tribes of Reuben and Gad with half of the tribe of Manasseh had received their inheritance east of the Jordan River, since the Lord’s servant Moses had already given it to them. ⁹The border extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the city in the middle of the valley, and the whole plateau from Medeba to Dibon. ¹⁰It included all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites up to the border of Ammon. Sihon’s capital was Heshbon. ¹¹It also included Gilead, the territory of the people of Geshur and Maacath, all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah ¹²(the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan). Og ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was the last of the Rephaim. Moses had defeated them and forced them out. ¹³But the Israelites did not force out the people of Geshur and Maacath. So they still live in Israel today. 

¹⁴Moses did not give any land as an inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The sacrifices offered to the Lord God of Israel are what the Levites inherited, as the Lord had promised them. 

¹⁵Moses gave some land as an inheritance to the tribe of Reuben for their families. ¹⁶Their territory extended from Aroer on the edge of the Arnon Valley, including the city in the middle of the valley and the whole plateau near Medeba. ¹⁷It included Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau, Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the mountain in the valley, ²⁰Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth. ²¹It also included all the cities of the plateau, the whole kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon. Moses defeated him and Midian’s leaders—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. They were princes of Sihon, who lived in that country. ²²Along with these leaders, the people of Israel also killed Balaam, son of Beor, who used black magic. ²³The border of Reuben’s territory was the Jordan River. This was Reuben’s inheritance for its families. It included cities with their villages. 

²⁴Moses gave some land as an inheritance to the tribe of Gad for its families. ²⁵Their territory included Jazer, all the cities of Gilead, and half of Ammon as far as Aroer, which is by Rabbah. ²⁶It extended from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim as far as the border of Lidbir. ²⁷In the Jordan Valley it included Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon. The Jordan River served as its western border, extending to the end of the Sea of Galilee. ²⁸This was Gad’s inheritance for its families. It included cities with their villages. 

²⁹Moses gave some land as an inheritance to half of the tribe of Manasseh. It was only for the families of that half of the tribe. ³⁰Their territory extended from Mahanaim and included all of Bashan (the whole kingdom of King Og of Bashan) and all 60 settlements of Jair that were in Bashan. ³¹It also included half of Gilead with Ashtaroth and Edrei, the royal cities of Og in Bashan. They were given to half the families of Machir, son of Manasseh, ⸤for their inheritance⸥. 

³²This is the land that Moses distributed on Moab’s plains, east of the Jordan River near Jericho. ³³Moses did not give any land as an inheritance to the tribe of Levi. The Lord God of Israel is what they inherited, as he had promised them. 

14TH CHAPTER

The First Stage in Dividing the Land

¹This is the land that the people of Israel inherited in Canaan. The priest Eleazar, Joshua (son of Nun), and the heads of Israel’s tribes distributed it to the people. ²The land inherited by the nine-and-a-half tribes was determined by drawing lots as the Lord had commanded through Moses. ³Moses had given the two-and-a-half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan River. He did not give any land as an inheritance to Levi’s tribe, ⁴because Joseph’s descendants, Manasseh and Ephraim, formed two tribes. The Levites were not given a share of the land. Joseph’s descendants gave the Levites cities to live in with pasturelands for their cattle and everything they had. ⁵So the people of Israel divided the land as the Lord had commanded Moses. 

Special Land for Caleb

⁶Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb, son of Jephunneh and grandson of Kenaz, said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. ⁷I was 40 years old when the Lord’s servant Moses sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. I reported to him exactly what I thought. ⁸But my companions discouraged the people. However, I was completely loyal to the Lord my God. ⁹On that day Moses swore this oath: ‘The land your feet walked on will be a permanent inheritance for you and your descendants because you were completely loyal to the Lord my God.’ 

¹⁰“So look at me. The Lord has kept me alive as he promised. It’s been 45 years since Israel wandered in the desert when the Lord made this promise to Moses. So now look at me today. I’m 85 years old. ¹¹I’m still as fit to go to war now as I was when Moses sent me out. ¹²Now give me this mountain region which the Lord spoke of that day. You heard that the people of Anak are still there and that they have large, fortified cities. If the Lord is with me, I can force them out, as he promised.” 

¹³So Joshua blessed Caleb, son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. ¹⁴Hebron is still the inheritance of Caleb, son of Jephunneh and grandson of Kenaz, because Caleb was completely loyal to the Lord God of Israel. ¹⁵In the past Hebron was called Kiriath Arba. Arba was the greatest man among the people of Anak. So the land had peace. 

15TH CHAPTER

Judah’s Land

¹The lot was drawn for the families of the tribe of Judah. Their territory extends as far south as the territory of Edom and the desert of Zin. ²The southern border starts from the south end of the Dead Sea ³and goes south of the Akrabbim Pass. It then passes Zin and goes up south of Kadesh Barnea. From there it goes to Hezron, up to Addar, around to Karka, ⁴and on to Azmon. It comes out at the River of Egypt so that the border ends at the Mediterranean Sea. This is the southern border. 

⁵The eastern border is the Dead Sea as far north as the mouth of the Jordan River. 

The northern border starts from the north end of the Dead Sea at the mouth of the Jordan ⁶and goes up to Beth Hoglah. It then passes north to Beth Arabah and goes up to the Rock of Bohan, son of Reuben. ⁷From the valley of Achor, the border goes up to Debir and turns north to the region that faces the Adummim Pass, south of the valley. Then the border passes the Springs of En Shemesh and ends at En Rogel. ⁸It continues up the valley of Ben Hinnom to the south slope of the Jebusite city Jerusalem. It then goes to the top of the mountain that overlooks the valley of Hinnom to the west at the north end of the valley of Rephaim. ⁹From the top of that mountain the border goes around to the spring of Nephtoah. From there it goes to the cities of Mount Ephron and around to Baalah (now called Kiriath Jearim). ¹⁰From Baalah the border turns west to Mount Seir and over to the north slope of Mount Jearim (now called Chesalon). Then it goes down to Beth Shemesh and on to Timnah. ¹¹From there the border goes on the north side of Ekron and turns to Shikkeron, on to Mount Baalah, and comes out at Jabneel. The border ends at the Mediterranean Sea. 

¹²The western border is the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea. These are the borders around Judah that belong to their families. 

¹³Joshua gave Caleb, son of Jephunneh, a share of land among the people of Judah as the Lord had told them. It was Kiriath Arba (now called Hebron). Arba was the father of Anak. ¹⁴Caleb forced out Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, three descendants of Anak from Hebron. ¹⁵From there he marched against the people living in Debir. (In the past Debir was called Kiriath Sepher.) 

¹⁶Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah as a wife to anyone who attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it.” ¹⁷Then Othniel, son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, captured it. So Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as a wife. ¹⁸When she came to Othniel, she persuaded him to ask her father for a field. When she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” 

¹⁹She answered, “Give me a blessing. Since you’ve given me some dry land, also give me some springs.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs. 

²⁰This is the land inherited by the families of the tribe of Judah. 

²¹On the farthest edge of the Negev, on the border of Edom, they gave the tribe of Judah 29 cities with their villages: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor…