Joshua 14–19

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 of Nephtoah. It went to the towns near Mount Ephron. It went down toward Kiriath Jearim. ¹⁰Then it curved west from Kiriath Jearim to Mount Seir. It ran along the north slope of Mount Kesalon. It continued down to Beth Shemesh and crossed over to Timnah. ¹¹It went to the north slope of Ekron. Then it turned toward Shikkeron. It passed along to Mount Baalah and reached Jabneel. The border came to an end at the Mediterranean Sea.

¹²The border on the west was the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.

Those were the borders of the family groups of the tribe of Judah.

¹³Joshua gave a part of Judah’s share of land to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh. That was in keeping with the Lord’s command to Joshua. The share Caleb received was the city of Hebron. It was also called Kiriath Arba. Anak came from the family line of Arba. ¹⁴Caleb drove three Anakites out of Hebron. Their names were Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai. They were from the family line of Anak.

¹⁵From Hebron, Caleb marched out against the people who were living in Debir. It used to be called Kiriath Sepher. ¹⁶Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah to be married. I’ll give her to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.”

¹⁷Othniel captured it. So Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to him to be his wife. Othniel was the son of Kenaz. He was Caleb’s brother.

¹⁸One day Acsah came to Othniel. She begged him to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb spoke to her. He asked, “What can I do for you?”

¹⁹She replied, “Do me a special favor. You have given me some land in the Negev Desert. Give me springs of water also.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

²⁰Here is the share of land that was given to the tribe of Judah, family group by family group.

²¹The towns farthest south that were given to Judah were in the Negev Desert. They were near the border of Edom. Here is a list of those towns.

Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor Hadattah, Hazor, ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth Pelet, ²⁸Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, ²⁹Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon. The total number of towns was 29. Some of them had villages near them.

³³Towns were also given to Judah in the western hills. Here is a list of those towns.

Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴Zanoah, En Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim and Gederah. Gederah is also called Gederothaim. The total number of towns was 14. Some of them had villages near them.

³⁷Here’s another list of towns that were given to Judah in the western hills.

Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal Gad, ³⁸Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, ³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmas, Kitlish, ⁴¹Gederoth, Beth Dagon, Naamah and Makkedah. The total number of towns was 16. Some of them had villages near them.

⁴²Here’s another list of towns that were given to Judah in the western hills.

Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Aczib and Mareshah. The total number of towns was nine. Some of them had villages near them.

⁴⁵Judah was also given Ekron and the settlements and villages that were around it. ⁴⁶West of Ekron, Judah was given all of the settlements and villages that were near Ashdod. ⁴⁷Judah was given Ashdod and the settlements and villages that were around it. And Judah was given Gaza and its settlements and villages. Judah’s territory went all the way to the Wadi of Egypt and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴⁸Towns were also given to Judah in the central hill country. Here is a list of those towns.

Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Debir, ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen, Holon and Giloh. The total number of towns was 11. Some of them had villages near them.

⁵²Here’s another list of towns that were given to Judah in the central hill country.

Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Hebron and Zior. The total number of towns was nine. Some of them had villages near them.

⁵⁵Here’s another list of towns that were given to Judah in the central hill country.

Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah and Timnah. The total number of towns was ten. Some of them had villages near them.

⁵⁸Here’s another list of towns that were given to Judah in the central hill country.

Halhul, Beth Zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Maarath, Beth Anoth and Eltekon. The total number of towns was six. Some of them had villages near them.

⁶⁰Here’s another list of towns that were given to Judah in the central hill country.

Kiriath Jearim and Rabbah. The total number of towns was two. They had villages near them.

⁶¹Towns were also given to Judah in the desert. Here is a list of those towns.

Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt and En Gedi. The total number of towns was six. Some of them had villages near them.

⁶³Judah couldn’t drive out the Jebusites who were living in Jerusalem. So they live there with the people of Judah to this very day.

Land Is Given to Ephraim and Manasseh

16The land that was given to the two tribes in the family line of Joseph began at the Jordan River near Jericho. Their border started east of the springs of Jericho. It went up from there through the desert into the hill country of Bethel. ²Bethel is also called Luz. From Bethel it crossed over to Ataroth. That’s where the Arkites live. ³Then it went west down to the territory of the Japhletites. It went all the way to the area of Lower Beth Horon. It went on to Gezer. It came to an end at the Mediterranean Sea.

⁴The tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim were from the family line of Joseph. So they received that land as their share.

⁵Here is the territory that was given to the tribe of Ephraim, family group by family group.

The border of their share of…