Joshua 14–19

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 Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (now called Hazor), ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, ²⁸Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. 

³³In the foothills they gave Judah 14 cities with their villages: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim. 

³⁷They also gave Judah 16 other cities with their villages: Zenan, Hadashah, Migdalgad, ³⁸Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, ³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish, ⁴¹Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah. 

⁴²An additional nine cities with their villages were given to Judah: Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah. 

⁴⁵Judah also received Ekron with its cities and villages. ⁴⁶This included all the cities with their villages between Ekron and the Mediterranean Sea and alongside Ashdod. ⁴⁷Added to this were Ashdod and Gaza with their cities and villages as far as the River of Egypt and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. 

⁴⁸In the mountains they gave Judah 11 cities with their villages: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath Sannah (now called Debir), ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh. 

⁵²They also gave Judah nine other cities with their villages: Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath Arba (now called Hebron), and Zior. 

⁵⁵They also received another ten cities with their villages: Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah. 

⁵⁸Halhul, Bethzur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Maarath, Bethanoth, and Eltekon were six other cities with their villages that were given to Judah.^a

⁶⁰The two cities of Kiriath Baal (now called Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah with their villages ⸤were given to Judah⸥. 

⁶¹In the desert Judah was given six cities with their villages: Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶²Nibshan, Ir Hamelah, and En Gedi. 

⁶³However, Judah was not able to force out the people of Jebus who lived in Jerusalem. So they still live with Judah in Jerusalem today. 

16TH CHAPTER

Land for Joseph’s Sons

¹The lot was drawn for Joseph. The border of Joseph’s territory goes from the Jordan River at Jericho to the springs of Jericho on the east, through the desert that goes up from Jericho, and through the mountains to Bethel. ²From Bethel the border goes to Luz and over to Ataroth at the border of the Archites. ³Then it descends west to the border of Japhlet and Lower Beth Horon, on to Gezer, and ends at the Mediterranean Sea. ⁴So Joseph’s sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, received this land as their inheritance. 

Ephraim’s Land

⁵This is the territory for the families descended from Ephraim. The eastern border of the land they inherited is from Ataroth Addar to Upper Beth Horon. ⁶From there the border goes west, with Michmethath on the north. The border then turns east to Taanath Shiloh and passes east to Janoah. ⁷From Janoah it descends to Ataroth and Naarah, touches Jericho, and ends at the Jordan River. ⁸At Tappuah the border goes west along the Kanah River and ends at the Mediterranean Sea. This is the land given as an inheritance to the families of the tribe of Ephraim ⁹with all the cities and their villages selected for Ephraim in Manasseh’s territory. ¹⁰However, they did not force out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. So the Canaanites still live in Ephraim today, but they are required to do forced labor. 

17TH CHAPTER

Manasseh’s Land

¹The lot was drawn for the tribe of Manasseh, because Manasseh was Joseph’s firstborn. Machir, Manasseh’s firstborn, the ancestor of the people living in Gilead, had received Gilead and Bashan because he was a soldier. ²The land was given to the rest of the families descended from Manasseh, to the descendants of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Joseph’s son Manasseh listed by their families. 

³Zelophehad, son of Hepher, grandson of Gilead, and great-grandson of Machir, whose father was Manasseh, had no sons—only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ⁴They came to the priest Eleazar, Joshua (son of Nun), and the leaders. They said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us some land as an inheritance among our male relatives.” So they gave them an inheritance among their father’s relatives as the Lord had required. ⁵Ten portions of land went to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan east of the Jordan River. ⁶These…