Joshua 13–21

Land Still Remains to be Conquered

13Now Joshua was old and advanced in years,^a and Yahweh said to him, “You are old and advanced in years,^b and very much of the land remains to be possessed. ²This is the remaining land: all the regions of the Philistines, and all of the Geshurites,^{c 3}from the Shihor, which is east of Egypt,^d up to the border of Ekron to the north, which is reckoned as Canaanite; there are five Philistine rulers: the Gazites,^e Ashdodites,^f Ashkelonites,^g Gittites,^h Ekronites,ⁱ and the Avvim. ⁴In the south; all the land of the Canaanites,^j and Mearah, which belongs to the Sidonians up to Aphek, to the border of the Amorites,^{k 5}and the land of the Gebalites, and all the Lebanon,^l toward the east,^m from Baal Gad at the foot ofⁿ Mount Hermon up to Lebo-Hamath; ⁶all the inhabitants of the hill country, from the Lebanon^o up to Misrephoth Maim, and all the Sidonians. I will drive them out from before the Israelites;^p only allocate it to Israel as an inheritance just as I have commanded you. ⁷Therefore, divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

⁸With it^q the Reubenites,^r and the Gadites^s received their inheritance, which Moses gave them beyond the Jordan to the east, just as Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to them: ⁹from Aroer, which is on the edge of the wadi^t of Arnon, and the city which is in the middle of the wadi, and all the plateau from Medeba up to Dibon; ¹⁰and all the cities of Sihon king of the Amorites,^u who reigned in Heshbon up to the border of the Ammonites;^{v 11}and Gilead, and the border of the Geshurite^w and the Maacathites,^x all of Mount Hermon,^y and Bashan up to Salecah; ¹²all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and Edrei—he was left over from the survivors^z of the Rephaim; these Moses had defeated and driven out. ¹³But the Israelites^a did not drive out the Geshurites^b or the Maacathites;^c Geshur and Maacah live among Israel to this day. ¹⁴Only the tribe of Levites^d Moses did not give an inheritance; the offerings made by fire to Yahweh the God of Israel are their^e inheritance, just as he promised to them.^f

Reuben’s Inheritance

¹⁵Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the descendants^g of Reuben according to their families. ¹⁶Their territory was from Aroer, which was on the edge of the wadi^h of Arnon, and the city that is in the middle of the valley, and all the plateau by Medeba; ¹⁷Heshbon and its cities that are on the plateau; Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹Kiriathaim, Sibmah, and Zereth Shahar on the hill of the valley; ²⁰Beth Peor, the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth; ²¹all of the cities of the plateau, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites,ⁱ who reigned in Heshbon and whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba, the princes of Sihon who dwelled in the land. ²²In addition to their slain, the Israelites^j killed with the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination. ²³And the border of the descendants^k of Reuben was the Jordan and its banks.^l This was the inheritance of the descendants^m of Reuben according to their families, the cities, and their villages.

Gad’s Inheritance

²⁴Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of Gad, to the descendantsⁿ of Gad, according to their families. ²⁵Their territory was Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites^o up to Aroer, which is east of Rabbah;^{p 26}and from Heshbon up to Ramah-Mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim up to the territory to Debir; ²⁷in the valley of Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth, Zaphon, and the rest of the kingdom of Sihon king of Heshbon, the Jordan and its banks,^q up to the lower end of the Kinnereth Sea^r beyond the Jordan to the east. ²⁸This is the inheritance of the Gadites^s according to their families, the cities, and their villages.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh’s Inheritance

²⁹Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; it was for the half-tribe of the descendants^t of Manasseh according to their families. ³⁰Their territory was from Mahanaim, all Bashan, all the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, and all the settlements^u of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty cities, ³¹and half of Gilead, with Ashtaroth, Edrei, and the cities of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were allotted to the children of Makir son of Manasseh, for half of the children of Makir according to their families. ³²These are the territories that Moses gave as an inheritance on the desert-plateau of Moab, beyond the Jordan, east of Jericho. ³³But to the tribe of Levi Moses did not give an inheritance; Yahweh the God of Israel, he is their inheritance, just as he promised them.^v

The Land Allotted West of the Jordan

14These are the territories that the Israelites^a inherited in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites^b gave as an inheritance to them. ²Their inheritance was by lot, just as Yahweh commanded through the hand of Moses, for the nine tribes and the half-tribe. ³For Moses had given an inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. ⁴For the descendants^c of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and they did not give a plot of ground to the Levites in the land, only cities to live in, with their pastureland for their flocks and for their goods. ⁵Just as Yahweh commanded Moses, so the Israelites^d did; and they allotted the land.

Caleb Receives Hebron

⁶Then the descendants^e of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal; and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know the word that Yahweh said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea concerning you and me. ⁷I was forty years old^f when Moses Yahweh’s servant sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out the land, and I returned with an honest report.^{g 8}My companions who went up with me made the hearts^h of the people melt, but I remained true to Yahweh my God. ⁹And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land that your foot has trodden on will be an inheritance to you and your sons forever, because you remained true to Yahweh my God.’ ¹⁰So then, look, Yahweh has kept me alive just as he promised these forty-five years,ⁱ from the time that Yahweh spoke this word to Moses while Israel wandered^j in the wilderness. Now look, today I am eighty-five years old.^{k 11}Today I am still strong, just as on the day that Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so now also is my strength for war and for daily activities.^{l 12}So now give me this hill country that Yahweh spoke of on that day, for you heard on that day that the Anakites were there, with great and fortified cities. Perhaps Yahweh is with me, and I will drive them out just as Yahweh promised.”^m

¹³And Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh as an inheritance. ¹⁴Thus Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he remained true to Yahweh the God of Israel. ¹⁵And the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath Arba;ⁿ Arba was the greatest person among the Anakites. And the land rested from war.

The Allotment of Judah

15The allotment for the tribe of the descendants^a of Judah according to their families reached to the border of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin, to the far south.^{b 2}Their southern border was from the end of the Salt Sea,^c from the bay facing southward; ³it continues^d to the south to the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, it goes up south of Kadesh Barnea, passes along Hezron, goes up to Addar, and makes a turn to Karka; ⁴it passes on^e to Azmon, continues^f by the wadi of Egypt, and it ends^g at the sea. This will be your southern border. ⁵The eastern border is the Salt Sea^h up to the mouthⁱ of the Jordan. The border on the northern side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth^j of the Jordan; ⁶the border goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes along north of Beth Arabah; and the border goes up the stone of Bohan son of Reuben; ⁷and the border goes up to Debir from the valley of Achor, and to the north, turning to Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is south of the wadi;^k and the border passes on to the waters of En Shemesh, and it ends at En Rogel. ⁸Then the border goes up by the Valley of Ben Hinnom^l to the slope of the Jebusites^m from the south (that is, Jerusalem); and the border goes up to the top of the mountain that lies opposite the valley of Hinnom to the west, which is at the end of the valley of Rephaim to the north; ⁹then the border turns from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and continuesⁿ from there to the cities of Mount Ephron; the border then turns to Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim); ¹⁰and the border goes around from Baalah to the west, to Mount Seir, and passes on to the slope of Mount Jearim from the north (that is, Kesalon), and goes down to Beth Shemesh, and passes along by Timnah. ¹¹The border continues^o to the slope of Ekron to the north, then bends around to Shikkeron, it passes on to Mount Baalah and continues to Jabneel; and the border ends^p at the sea. ¹²And the western border is to the Great Sea^q and its coast. This is the border surrounding the descendants^r of Judah according to their families.

¹³According to the commandment of Yahweh to Joshua,^s he gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh a plot of ground among the descendants^t of Judah, Kiriath Arba,^u which is Hebron (Arba was Anak’s father). ¹⁴Caleb drove out from there three of Anak’s sons, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants^v of Anak. ¹⁵And from there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir (the former name of Debir was Kiriath Sepher). ¹⁶And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath Sepher and captures it, I will give to him my daughter Acsah as a wife.” ¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, captured it, and he gave to him Acsah his daughter as a wife. ^…