Joshua 14

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