18The whole community of Israel gathered together at Shiloh. They set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control. ²But there were still seven tribes in Israel who had not yet received their shares of land.

³So Joshua spoke to the people of Israel. He said, “The Lord, the God of your people, has given you this land. How long will you wait before you begin to take it over? ⁴Appoint three men from each tribe. I’ll send them to map out the land. Then they’ll write a report about its features. The report will point out the share of land each tribe will receive. Then the men will return to me.

⁵“You must divide the land up into seven shares. Judah must remain in its territory in the south. The people in Joseph’s family line must remain in their territory in the north. ⁶Write reports about the features of those seven shares of land. Bring them here to me. Then I’ll cast lots for you in the sight of the Lord our God.

⁷“But the Levites don’t get any share of your land. That’s because their share is to serve the Lord as priests.

“The tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh have already received their shares. They are on the east side of the Jordan River. Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave their shares to them.”

⁸The men started out on their way to map out the land. Joshua directed them, “Go and map out the land. Write a report about its features. Then return to me. I’ll cast lots for you here at Shiloh in the sight of the Lord.”

⁹So the men left and went through the land. They wrote a report about its features on a scroll. It showed how they divided up the land into seven shares. It listed the towns that were in each share. The men returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh in the sight of the Lord. There he gave out a share of land to each of the remaining tribes in Israel.

Land Is Given to Benjamin

¹¹The first lot that was drawn out was for the tribe of Benjamin, family group by family group. The territory they were given was located between the tribes of the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. Here are the borders of Benjamin’s territory.

¹²On the north side their border started at the Jordan River. It went past the north slope of Jericho. Then it headed west into the central hill country. It came to an end at the Desert of Beth Aven. ¹³From there it crossed to the south slope of Bethel. Then it went down to Ataroth Addar on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

¹⁴From the hill that faces Beth Horon on the south the border turned south along the west side of the hill. It came to an end at Kiriath Jearim. That town belongs to the people of Judah. That was the border on the west.

¹⁵The border on the south side started at the west edge of Kiriath Jearim. It came to an end at the springs of Nephtoah. ¹⁶It went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Ben Hinnom. The hill is north of the Valley of Rephaim. The border continued down the Hinnom Valley. It went along the south slope of Jerusalem, where the people of Jebus live. It continued on to En Rogel. ¹⁷Then it curved north. It went to En Shemesh. It continued on to Geliloth. Geliloth faces the Pass of Adummim. The border ran down to the Stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben. ¹⁸It continued to the north slope of Beth Arabah. It went on down into the Arabah Valley. ¹⁹From there it went to the north slope of Beth Hoglah. It came to an end at the north bay of the Dead Sea. That’s where the Jordan River flows into the Dead Sea. That was the border on the south.

²⁰The Jordan River formed the border on the east side.

Those were the borders that marked out on all sides the land the family groups of Benjamin received as their share.

²¹Here is a list of towns that were given to the tribe of Benjamin, family group by family group.

Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²²Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba. The total number of towns and their villages was 12.

²⁵Here is another list of towns that were given to Benjamin.

Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸Zelah, Haeleph, Jerusalem, Gibeah and Kiriath. The total number of towns and their villages was 14.

That was the share of land the family groups of Benjamin received.

Land Is Given to Simeon

19The second lot that was drawn out was for the tribe of Simeon, family group by family group. The share of land they were given was in the territory of Judah. ²Here is what Simeon’s share included.

Beersheba, Moladah, ³Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, ⁶Beth Lebaoth and Sharuhen. The total number of towns was 13. Some of them had villages near them.

⁷Here’s another list of towns that were given to Simeon.

Ain, Rimmon, Ether and Ashan. The total number of towns was four. Some of them had villages near them. ⁸The towns and all of the villages that were around them reached all the way to Ramah in the Negev Desert.

That was the share of land the tribe of Simeon received, family group by family group. ⁹Simeon’s share of land was taken from Judah’s share. That’s because Judah had more land than they needed. So the people of Simeon received their share of land inside the territory of Judah.

Land Is Given to Zebulun

¹⁰The third lot that was drawn out was for the tribe of Zebulun, family group by family group. Here are the borders of Zebulun’s territory.

The border of their share of land went as far as Sarid. ¹¹It ran west to Maralah and touched Dabbesheth. It reached to the valley near Jokneam. ¹²It turned east from Sarid toward the sunrise. It went to the territory of Kisloth Tabor. It went on to Daberath and up to Japhia. ¹³Then it continued east to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin. It came to an end at Rimmon and turned toward Neah. ¹⁴There the border went around on the north to Hannathon. It came to an end at the Valley of Iphtah El. ¹⁵Zebulun’s territory included Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem. The total number of towns was 12. Some of them had villages near them.

¹⁶Those towns and their villages were Zebulun’s share, family group by family group.

Land Is Given to Issachar

¹⁷The fourth lot that was drawn out was for the tribe of Issachar, family group by family group. ¹⁸Here is what Issachar’s share included.

Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah and Beth Pazzez. ²²The border touched Tabor, Shahazumah and Beth Shemesh. It came to an end at the Jordan River. The total number of towns was 16. Some of them had villages near them.

²³Those towns and their villages were the share the tribe of Issachar received, family group by family group.

Land Is Given to Asher

²⁴The fifth lot that was drawn out was for the tribe of Asher, family group by family group. ²⁵Here is what Asher’s share included.

Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, ²⁶Allammelech, Amad and Mishal. On the west the border touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath. ²⁷Then it turned east toward Beth Dagon. It touched Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtah El. It went north to Beth Emek and Neiel. It went past Cabul on the left. ²⁸It went to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah. It reached all the way to Greater Sidon. ²⁹The border then turned back toward Ramah. It went to Tyre, a city that had high walls around it. It turned toward Hosah. It came to an end at the Mediterranean Sea in the area of Aczib, ³⁰Ummah, Aphek and Rehob. The total number of towns was 22. Some of them had villages near them.

³¹Those towns and their villages were the share the tribe of Asher received, family group by family group.

Land Is Given to Naphtali

³²The sixth lot that was drawn out was for Naphtali, family group by family group.

³³Their border started at Heleph and the large tree in Zaanannim. It went past Adami Nekeb and Jabneel. It went to Lakkum and came to an end at the Jordan River. ³⁴The border ran west through Aznoth Tabor. It came to an end at Hukkok. It touched Zebulun on the south. It touched Asher on the west. It touched the Jordan on the east.

³⁵The cities that had high walls around them were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Kinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath and Beth Shemesh. The total number of towns was 19. Some of them had villages near them.

³⁹Those towns and their villages were the share the tribe of Naphtali received, family group by family group.

Land Is Given to Dan

⁴⁰The seventh lot that was drawn out was for the tribe of Dan, family group by family group. ⁴¹Here is what Dan’s share of land included.

Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶Me Jarkon and Rakkon. Dan’s share included the area that faces Joppa.

⁴⁷The people of Dan had trouble taking over their territory. So they went up and attacked Leshem. They took it. They killed its people with their swords. Then they moved into Leshem and settled down there. They named it Dan. That’s because they traced their family line back to him.

⁴⁸All of those towns and their villages were the share the tribe of Dan received, family group by family group.

Land Is Given to Joshua

⁴⁹The people of Israel finished dividing up the shares of land the tribes received. Then they gave a share to Joshua, the son of Nun. ⁵⁰They did what the Lord had commanded them to do. They gave Joshua the town he asked for. It was Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He built up the town and settled down there.

⁵¹All of those territories were given out by using lots at Shiloh. The lots were drawn out by the priest Eleazar and by Joshua, the son of Nun. The leaders of the tribes of Israel helped them. The lots were drawn out in front of the Lord at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. So the work of dividing up the land was finished.

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