Joshua 18–19

The Last of the Land Is Divided

18The entire congregation of the Israelites^a assembled at Shiloh, and they set up there the tent of meeting, and the land was subdued before them.^{b 2}And seven tribes remained among the Israelites^c who had not been apportioned their inheritance. ³And Joshua said to the Israelites,^d “How long^e will you be slack about going to take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^f has given you? ⁴Provide three men from each tribe,^g and I will send them so that they may begin to go through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance,^h and let them come to me. ⁵They will divide it among themselves into seven portions; Judah will maintain its borderⁱ from the south, and the house of Joseph will maintain its border^j from the north. ⁶Describe the land in seven divisions, and bring it to me here; I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. ⁷The Levites among you have no portion, for their inheritance is the priesthood of Yahweh; Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to them.”

⁸And the men went immediately,^k and Joshua commanded the ones going to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk about through the land, write a description, and return to me, and here I will cast a lot for you before^l Yahweh at Shiloh.” ⁹And the men went and passed through the land, and they described^m the cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰and Joshua cast a lot for them at Shiloh beforeⁿ Yahweh, and there he divided the land for the Israelites,^o to each a portion.^p

The Allotment of Benjamin

¹¹And the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the border of their allotment fell^q between the descendants^r of Judah and the descendants^s of Joseph. ¹²Their northern border began at the Jordan and went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and continued into the hill country to the west; it ends^t at the wilderness of Beth Aven. ¹³The border passes on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel); then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar to the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-Horon. ¹⁴Then the border changes direction and turns to the western side southward, from the mountain that is opposite^u Beth-Horon to the south. It ends^v at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town belonging to the descendants^w of Judah. This is the western side. ¹⁵The southern side begins on the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim, and the border continues to the west to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah; ¹⁶the border goes down to the foot^x of the mountain, which is opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^y which is in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it goes down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites^z to the south, and then it goes down to En Rogel. ¹⁷It changes direction from the north, and it continues to En Shemesh; it goes out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. ¹⁸It passes on to the slope opposite the Arabah^a to the north, and it goes down to the Arabah.^{b 19}The border passes on to the slope of Beth-hoglah to the north and ends^c at the north bay of the Salt Sea^d at the south end of the Jordan. This is the southern border. ²⁰The Jordan forms its border on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, its borders that surrounds them, according to their families.

²¹Now the towns of the tribes of the descendants^e of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²²Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities and their villages.

²⁵Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants^f of Benjamin according to their families.

The Allotment of Simeon

19The second allotment fell^a for Simeon, for the tribe of the descendants^b of Simeon, according to their families. And their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the descendants^c of Judah. ²And they had as their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, ⁶Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities and their villages. ⁷Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan; four cities and their villages, ⁸and all the villages that were around these towns up to Baalat-Beor, Ramath of the Negev.^d This was the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants^e of Simeon according to their families. ⁹Part of the portion allotted to the descendants^f of Judah became the inheritance of the descendants^g of Simeon because the portion for the descendants^h of Judah was too large for them,ⁱ so the descendants^j of Simeon inherited from their inheritance.

The Allotment of Zebulun

¹⁰The third allotment came up for the descendants^k of Zebulun according to their families. The border of their inheritance went up to Sarid. ¹¹Their border goes up to the west, to Maralah; it touches^l Dabbesheth, then the wadi^m that is opposite Jokneam. ¹²It turns from Sarid to the east to the sunrise, to the border of Kislot-Tabor; it continues to Daberath and goes up to Japhia. ¹³From there it passes along to the east toward the sunrise, to Gath Hepher and to Eth Kazin, and continuing to Rimmon, it turns to Neah; ¹⁴it changes direction from the north of Hannathon, and it endsⁿ at the valley of Yiptah-El; ¹⁵Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; twelve cities and their villages. ¹⁶This is the inheritance of the descendants^o of Zebulun according to their families, these cities and their villages.

The Allotment of Issachar

¹⁷The fourth allotment fell^p for Issachar, for the descendants^q of Issachar, according to their families. ¹⁸Their border went to Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez; ²²and the border touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth Shemesh. Its border ends^r at the Jordan; sixteen cities and their villages. ²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants^s of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Allotment of Asher

²⁴The fifth allotment fell^t for the tribe of the descendants^u of Asher according to their families. ²⁵Their border was Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, ²⁶Allamelech, Amad, and Mishal; it touches Carmel to the west, and Shihor-Libnat. ²⁷Then it turns eastward^v to Beth-dagon and touches Zebulun and the valley of Yiptah-El to the north^w to Beth Emeck and Neiel; it continues to Cabul from the north, ²⁸and Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah up to Great Sidon; ²⁹then the border turns to Ramah, and up to the fortified city of Tyre, where the border turns to Hosah; it ends^x at the sea, from Hebel to Aczib. ³⁰Included were Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob; twenty-two cities and their villages. ³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants^y of Asher according to their families, these cities and their villages.

The Allotment of Naphtali

³²The sixth allotment fell^z for the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families. ³³Their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, Adami Nekeb, Jabneel, up to Lakkum; it ends^a at the Jordan; ³⁴then the border turns to the west, to Aznoth Tabor, and continues from there to Hukok, and it touches^b Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah on the east^c at the Jordan. ³⁵The fortified cities^d are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸Yiron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth-anath, Beth Shemesh; nineteen cities and their villages. ³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Allotment of Dan

⁴⁰The seventh lot fell^e for the tribe of the descendants^f of Dan according to their families. ⁴¹The border of their inheritance was Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶Me Jarkon, Rakkon, with the border opposite Joppa. ⁴⁷The border of the descendants^g of Dan continued beyond them,^h because the descendantsⁱ of Dan went up and fought with Lesham, and they captured and struck it with the edge of the sword,^j and they took possession of it and settled in it; and they called Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.^{k 48}This is the inheritance of the tribe of the descendants^l of Dan according to their families, these cities and their villages.

The Allotment Is Completed

⁴⁹They finished assigning the land according to its borders, and the Israelites^m gave an inheritance from among them to Joshua son of Nun. ⁵⁰According to the commandment of Yahweh,ⁿ they gave him the city that he requested, Timnath Serah, in the hill country of Ephraim, and he rebuilt the city and settled^o in it. ⁵¹These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes, distributed by allotment to the Israelites,^p at Shiloh before Yahweh^q at the entrance of the tent of meeting. And they finished dividing the land.