Joshua 13–21

The Land That Remained to Be Taken Over

13Joshua was now very old. The Lord said to him, “You are very old. And there are still very large areas of land that have not been taken over yet.

²“Here is the land that remains to be taken over. It includes all of the areas of Philistia and Geshur. ³Those areas begin at the Shihor River in the eastern part of Egypt. They go to the territory of Ekron in the north. All of that land is considered as belonging to the people of Canaan. The land that remains to be taken over includes the territory of the five rulers of Philistia. They rule over Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. The Avvites ⁴live south of them. The rest of the land of Canaan that remains to be taken over reaches from Arah all the way to Aphek. Arah belongs to the people of Sidon. The land that remains to be taken over includes the area where the Amorites live. ⁵It includes the area where the people of Byblos live. It also includes all of Lebanon to the east. It reaches from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

⁶“I myself will drive out all of the people who live in the mountain areas. Those areas reach from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim. They include the area where all of the people of Sidon live. I myself will drive those people out to make room for the people of Israel.

“Make sure you set that land apart for Israel. Give it to them as their share, just as I have directed you. ⁷Divide it up among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Give each tribe its share.”

Moses Had Given the Eastern Tribes Their Land

⁸The other half of Manasseh’s tribe had already received the share of land Moses had given them. Their share was east of the Jordan River. The tribes of Reuben and Gad had already received their share too. Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given it to them.

⁹That land starts at Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley. It includes the town in the middle of the valley. It includes the high flatlands of Medeba all the way to Dibon. ¹⁰It also includes all of the towns of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. That area reaches to the border of Ammon. ¹¹It also includes Gilead. It includes the territory of Geshur and Maacah. It includes Mount Hermon and the whole land of Bashan all the way to Salecah.

¹²So it includes the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan. Og had ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was one of the last of the Rephaites. Moses had won the battle over Sihon and Og. He had taken over their land.

¹³But the people of Israel didn’t drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah. So they continue to live among the people of Israel to this very day.

¹⁴Moses hadn’t given any share of the land to the tribe of Levi. That’s because the offerings that are made with fire are their share. Those offerings are made to the Lord, the God of Israel. Moses gave the Levites what he had promised them.

¹⁵Here is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, family group by family group.

¹⁶Their territory starts at Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley. It includes the town in the middle of the valley. It includes all of the high flatlands that are near Medeba. ¹⁷It includes Heshbon and all of its towns on those flatlands. Those towns include Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸Jahaz, Kedemoth and Mephaath. ¹⁹They include Kiriathaim, Sibmah and Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley. ²⁰They also include Beth Peor, Beth Jeshimoth and the slopes of Pisgah. ²¹All of those towns are on the high flatlands.

The territory includes the whole kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. Moses had won the battle over him and over the chiefs of Midian. Those chiefs were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They were princes who helped Sihon fight against Israel. They lived in that country. ²²The people of Israel killed many of them in battle. They also killed Balaam with a sword. He was the son of Beor. Balaam used magic to find out what was going to happen.

²³The border of the tribe of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan River. All of those towns and their villages were given to the tribe of Reuben as their very own. Each family group received its share.

²⁴Here is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, family group by family group.

²⁵Their territory includes Jazer and all of the towns of Gilead. It includes half of the country of Ammon all the way to Aroer, which was near Rabbah. ²⁶Their territory reaches from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim. It reaches from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir. ²⁷In the valley their land includes Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon. It also includes the rest of the kingdom of Sihon. He was the king of Heshbon. His kingdom included the east side of the Jordan River. It reached up to the south end of the Sea of Galilee. ²⁸All of those towns and their villages were given to the tribe of Gad as their very own. Each family group received its share.

²⁹Here is what Moses had given to half of the tribe of Manasseh, family group by family group. It’s what Moses had given to half of Manasseh’s family line.

³⁰Their territory starts at Mahanaim. It includes the whole land of Bashan. That was the entire kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan. Manasseh’s territory includes all of the 60 towns of Jair in Bashan. ³¹It includes half of the land of Gilead. It also includes Ashtaroth and Edrei. They were the royal cities of Og in Bashan. That land was given to half of the family line of Makir. He was the son of Manasseh. Each family group received its share.

³²Those were the shares of land Moses had given the eastern tribes when he was in the flatlands of Moab. The flatlands are across the Jordan River east of Jericho. ³³But Moses hadn’t given any share to the tribe of Levi. The Lord, the God of Israel, is their share. Moses gave the Levites what he had promised them.

The Western Tribes Are Given Their Land

14The rest of the tribes of Israel received their shares of land in Canaan. The priest Eleazar and Joshua, the son of Nun, decided what each of the tribes should receive. The leaders of the tribes helped them make those decisions.

²The shares of nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh were decided by using lots. That’s what the Lord had commanded through Moses.

³Moses had given two tribes and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh their shares east of the Jordan River. But Moses had not given the Levites a share among the other tribes. ⁴Manasseh and Ephraim were the sons of Joseph. They had become two tribes. The Levites didn’t receive any share of the land. They only received towns to live in and grasslands for their flocks and herds.

⁵So the people of Israel divided up the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Joshua Gives Hebron to Caleb

⁶The men of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal. Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, spoke to Joshua. He said, “You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God. He spoke to him at Kadesh Barnea about you and me. ⁷Moses, the servant of the Lord, sent me from Kadesh Barnea to check out the land. I was 40 years old at that time. I brought back an honest report to him. I told him exactly what I had seen. ⁸Several other men of Israel went up with me. What they reported made the hearts of the people melt away in fear. But I followed the Lord my God with my whole heart.

⁹“So on that day Moses took an oath and made a promise to me. He said, ‘The land your feet have walked on will be your share. It will be the share of your children forever. That’s because you have followed the Lord my God with your whole heart.’

¹⁰“The Lord has done just as he promised. He made the promise while Israel was wandering around in the desert. That was 45 years ago. He has kept me alive all of this time. So here I am today, 85 years old! ¹¹I’m still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. I’m just as able to go out to battle now as I was then.

¹²“So give me this hill country. The Lord promised it to me that day. At that time you yourself heard that the Anakites were living there. You also heard that their cities were large and had high walls. But I’ll drive them out, just as the Lord said I would. He will help me do it.”

¹³Then Joshua blessed Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. He gave him Hebron as his share.

¹⁴So ever since that time Hebron has belonged to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. That’s because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, with his whole heart.

¹⁵Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba. It was named after Arba. He was the greatest man among the Anakites.

So the land had peace and rest.

Land Is Given to Judah

15Land was given to the tribe of Judah, family group by family group. It reached down to the territory of Edom. It went as far south as the Desert of Zin.

²Judah’s border on the south started from the bay at the south end of the Dead Sea. ³It went across to the south of Scorpion Pass. It continued on to Zin. It went over to the south of Kadesh Barnea. Then it ran past Hezron up to Addar. It curved around to Karka. ⁴It then went along to Azmon. There it joined the Wadi of Egypt and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. That was the southern border of Judah.

⁵The border on the east was the Dead Sea. It went north all the way to where the Jordan River enters the sea.

The border on the north started at the bay of the Dead Sea. That’s where the Jordan River enters the sea. ⁶From there it went up to Beth Hoglah. It continued north of Beth Arabah to the Stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben. ⁷Then it went from the Valley of Achor up to Debir. It turned north to Gilgal. Gilgal faces the Pass of Adummim south of the valley. The border continued along to the springs of En Shemesh. It came to an end at En Rogel. ⁸Then it ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom. It went along the south slope of Jerusalem. From there it climbed to the top of the hill that is west of the Hinnom Valley. The hill is also at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim. ⁹From the top of the hill the border headed toward the springs…