Joshua 13–14

Unconquered Lands

13Joshua was now old, getting on in years, ^uand the Lord said to him, “You have become old, getting on in years, but a great deal of the land remains to be possessed. ^v2This is the land that remains:

All the districts of the Philistines and the Geshurites: ³from the Shihor east of Egypt to the border of Ekron on the north (considered to be Canaanite territory)—the five Philistine rulers of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron, as well as the Avvites ⁴in the south; all the land of the Canaanites: from Arah of the Sidonians to Aphek and as far as the border of the Amorites; ⁵the land of the Gebalites; ^wand all Lebanon east from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamath ^xy— ⁶all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, ^zall the Sidonians.

I will drive them out before the Israelites, only distribute the land as an inheritance for Israel, as I have commanded you. ⁷Therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

The Inheritance East of the Jordan

⁸With the other half of the tribe, the Reubenites and Gadites had received the inheritance Moses gave them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses the Lord’s servant had given them: ^a

⁹From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, ^ball the Medeba plateau as far as Dibon, ¹⁰and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, to the border of the Ammonites; ¹¹also Gilead ^cand the territory of the Geshurites and Maacathites, all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah— ¹²the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei; he was one of the remaining Rephaim.

Moses struck them down and drove them out, ^d13but the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites and Maacathites. ^eSo Geshur and Maacath live in Israel to this day. ^f

¹⁴He did not give any inheritance to the tribe of Levi. This was its inheritance, just as He had promised: the offerings made by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel. ^g

Reuben’s Inheritance

¹⁵To the tribe of the Reubenites by their clans, Moses gave ¹⁶this as their territory:

From Aroer on the rim of the Arnon Valley, along with the city in the middle of the valley, to the whole plateau as far as ^hMedeba, ¹⁷with Heshbon and all its cities on the plateau—Dibon, Bamoth-baal, Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ⁱ¹⁹Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth-shahar on the hill in the valley, ^j20Beth-peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth— ²¹all the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon. Moses had killed him and the chiefs of Midian—Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba—the princes of Sihon who lived in the land. ^k22Along with those the Israelites put to death, they also killed the diviner, Balaam son of Beor, with the sword.

²³The border of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its plain. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites by their clans, with the cities and their villages.

Gad’s Inheritance

²⁴To the tribe of the Gadites by their clans, Moses gave ²⁵this as their territory:

Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites to Aroer, near Rabbah; ²⁶from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the border of Debir; ^l27in the valley: ^mBeth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon—the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon. Their land also included the Jordan and its territory as far as the edge of the Sea of Chinnereth ⁿon the east side of the Jordan. ^o

²⁸This was the inheritance of the Gadites by their clans, with the cities and their villages.

East Manasseh’s Inheritance

²⁹And to half the tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the tribe of Manasseh’s descendants by their clans, Moses gave ³⁰this as their territory:

From Mahanaim through all Bashan—all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, including all of Jair’s Villages ^pqthat are in Bashan—60 cities. ³¹But half of Gilead, and Og’s royal cities in Bashan—Ashtaroth and Edrei—are for the descendants of Machir son of Manasseh, that is, half the descendants of Machir by their clans.

³²These were the portions Moses gave them on the plains of Moab beyond the Jordan east of Jericho. ³³But Moses did not give a portion to the tribe of Levi. The Lord, the God of Israel, was their inheritance, just as He had promised them. ^r

Israel’s Inheritance in Canaan

14The Israelites received these portions that Eleazar the priest, ^sJoshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes gave them in the land of Canaan. ^t2Their inheritance was by lot ^uas the Lord commanded through Moses for the nine and a half tribes, ³because Moses had given the inheritance to the two and a half tribes beyond the Jordan. ^vBut he gave no inheritance among them to the Levites. ⁴The descendants of Joseph became two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. No portion of the land was given to the Levites except cities to live in, along with pasturelands for their cattle and livestock. ⁵So the Israelites did as the Lord commanded Moses, ^wand they divided the land.

Caleb’s Inheritance

⁶The descendants of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord promised Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me. ^x7I was 40 years old when Moses the Lord’s servant sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land, and I brought back an honest report. ^y8My brothers who went with me caused the people’s hearts to melt with fear, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. ^z9On that day Moses promised me: ‘The land where you have set foot will be an inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have remained loyal to the Lord my God.’ ^a

¹⁰“As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these 45 years as He promised, ^bsince the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, 85 years old. ¹¹I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks ^cis now as it was then. ^d12Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, ^eas well as large fortified cities. ^fPerhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.”

¹³Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance. ^g14Therefore, Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, ^hbecause he remained loyal to the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵Hebron’s name used to be Kiriath-arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. ⁱAfter this, the land had rest from war. ^j