Joshua 14–19

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

Judah’s Inheritance

15Now the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah by their clans ^kwas in the southernmost region, south to the Wilderness of Zin and over to the border of Edom.

²Their southern border began at the tip of the Dead Sea on the south bay ^l3and went south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, ^mproceeded to Zin, ascended to the south of Kadesh-barnea, passed Hezron, ascended to Addar, and turned to Karka. ⁴It proceeded to Azmon and to the Brook of Egypt and ⁿso the border ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This is your ^osouthern border.

⁵Now the eastern border was along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan. ^p

The border on the north side was from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. ⁶It ascended to Beth-hoglah, proceeded north of Beth-arabah, and ascended to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. ⁷Then the border ascended to Debir from the Valley of Achor, turning north to the Gilgal that is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, which is south of the ravine. The border proceeded to the waters of En-shemesh and ended at En-rogel. ⁸From there the border ascended the Valley of Hinnom to the southern Jebusite slope (that is, Jerusalem) and ascended to the top of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom on the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. ⁹From the top of the hill the border curved to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, went to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then curved to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim ^q). ¹⁰The border turned westward from Baalah to Mount Seir, went to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), descended to Beth-shemesh, and proceeded to Timnah. ^r11Then the border reached to the slope north of Ekron, curved to Shikkeron, proceeded to Mount Baalah, went to Jabneel, and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.

¹²Now the western border was the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.

This was the boundary of the descendants of Judah around their clans.

Caleb and Othniel

¹³He gave Caleb son of Jephunneh the following portion among the descendants of Judah based on the Lord’s instruction to Joshua: Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron; Arba was the father of Anak). ¹⁴Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, descendants of Anak. ^s15From there he marched against the inhabitants of Debir whose name used to be Kiriath-sepher, ^t16and Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah as a wife to the one who strikes down and captures Kiriath-sepher.” ¹⁷So Othniel ^uson of Caleb’s brother, Kenaz, captured it, and Caleb gave his daughter Achsah to him as a wife. ^v18When she arrived, she persuaded Othniel to ask her father for a field. As she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?” ¹⁹She replied, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me land in the Negev, give me the springs of water also.” So he gave her the upper and lower springs.

Judah’s Cities

²⁰This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Judah by their clans.

²¹These were the outermost cities of the tribe of the descendants of Judah toward the border of Edom in the Negev: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ^w22Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, ²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah, ^x29Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ^y32Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—29 cities in all, with their villages.

³³In the Judean foothills: ^zEshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, ^aEnam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, ^bSocoh, ^cAzekah, ³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim—14 cities, with their villages; ³⁷Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, ³⁸Dilan, Mizpeh, Jokthe-el, ³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, ⁴¹Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah—16 cities, with their villages; ⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah—nine cities, with their villages; ⁴⁵Ekron, with its towns and villages; ⁴⁶from Ekron to the sea, all the cities near Ashdod, with their villages; ⁴⁷Ashdod, with its towns and villages; Gaza, with its towns and villages, to the Brook of Egypt and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴⁸In the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—11 cities, with their villages; ⁵²Arab, Dumah, ^dEshan, ⁵³Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine cities, with their villages; ⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—10 cities, with their villages; ⁵⁸Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon—six cities, with their villages; ^e60Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah—two cities, with their villages.

⁶¹In the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt, ^fand En-gedi—six cities, with their villages.

⁶³But the descendants of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem. ^gSo the Jebusites live in Jerusalem among the descendants of Judah to this day. ^h

Joseph’s Inheritance

16The allotment for the descendants of Joseph ⁱwent from the Jordan at Jericho to the waters of Jericho on the east, through the wilderness ^jascending from Jericho into the hill country of Bethel. ²From Bethel it went to Luz and proceeded to the border of the Archites by Ataroth. ^k3It then descended westward to the border of the Japhletites as far as the border of lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, ^land ended at the Mediterranean Sea. ⁴So Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph, ^mreceived their inheritance. ⁿ

Ephraim’s Inheritance

⁵This was the territory of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans:

The border of their inheritance went from Ataroth-addar ^oon the east of Upper Beth-horon. ⁶In the north the border went westward from Michmethath; ^pit turned eastward from Taanath-shiloh and passed it east of Janoah. ⁷From Janoah it descended to Ataroth and Naarah, ^qand then reached Jericho and went to the Jordan. ⁸From Tappuah the border ^rwent westward along the Brook of Kanah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. ^s

This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants of Ephraim by their clans, together with ⁹the cities set apart for the descendants of Ephraim within the inheritance of the descendants of Manasseh—all these cities with their villages. ¹⁰But, they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer. ^tSo the Canaanites live in Ephraim to this day, ^ubut they are forced laborers.

West Manasseh’s Inheritance

17This was the allotment for the tribe of Manasseh ^vas Joseph’s firstborn. Gilead and Bashan came to Machir, the firstborn of Manasseh and the father of Gilead, who was a man of war. ^w2So the allotment was for the rest of Manasseh’s descendants by their clans, for the sons of Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These are the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph, by their clans.

³Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. ^x4They came before Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our male relatives.” ^ySo they gave them an inheritance among their father’s brothers, in keeping with the Lord’s instruction. ^z5As a result, 10 tracts fell to Manasseh, besides the land of Gilead and Bashan, which are beyond the Jordan, ^a6because Manasseh’s…