Joshua 13–21

Land Still to Be Taken

13When Joshua had grown old,^e the Lord said to him, “You are now very old, and there are still very large areas of land to be taken over.

²“This is the land that remains: all the regions of the Philistines^f and Geshurites,^{g 3}from the Shihor River^h on the east of Egypt to the territory of Ekronⁱ on the north, all of it counted as Canaanite though held by the five Philistine rulers^j in Gaza, Ashdod,^k Ashkelon,^l Gath and Ekron; the territory of the Avvites^{m 4}on the south; all the land of the Canaanites, from Arah of the Sidonians as far as Aphekⁿ and the border of the Amorites;^{o 5}the area of Byblos;^p and all Lebanon^q to the east, from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon^r to Lebo Hamath.^s

⁶“As for all the inhabitants of the mountain regions from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim,^t that is, all the Sidonians, I myself will drive them out^u before the Israelites. Be sure to allocate this land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have instructed you,^{v 7}and divide it as an inheritance^w among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh.”

Division of the Land East of the Jordan

⁸The other half of Manasseh,^a the Reubenites and the Gadites had received the inheritance that Moses had given them east of the Jordan, as he, the servant of the Lord, had assigned^x it to them.^y

⁹It extended from Aroer^z on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and included the whole plateau^a of Medeba as far as Dibon,^{b 10}and all the towns of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon,^c out to the border of the Ammonites.^{d 11}It also included Gilead,^e the territory of the people of Geshur and Maakah, all of Mount Hermon and all Bashan as far as Salekah^f—¹²that is, the whole kingdom of Og in Bashan,^g who had reigned in Ashtaroth^h and Edrei.ⁱ (He was the last of the Rephaites.^j) Moses had defeated them and taken over their land.^{k 13}But the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur^l and Maakah,^m so they continue to live among the Israelites to this day.ⁿ

¹⁴But to the tribe of Levi he gave no inheritance, since the food offerings presented to the Lord, the God of Israel, are their inheritance, as he promised them.^o

¹⁵This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, according to its clans:

¹⁶The territory from Aroer^p on the rim of the Arnon Gorge, and from the town in the middle of the gorge, and the whole plateau past Medeba^{q 17}to Heshbon and all its towns on the plateau,^r including Dibon,^s Bamoth Baal,^t Beth Baal Meon,^{u 18}Jahaz,^v Kedemoth,^w Mephaath,^{x 19}Kiriathaim,^y Sibmah,^z Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, ²⁰Beth Peor,^a the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth—²¹all the towns on the plateau^b and the entire realm of Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled at Heshbon. Moses had defeated him and the Midianite chiefs,^c Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba^d—princes allied with Sihon—who lived in that country. ²²In addition to those slain in battle, the Israelites had put to the sword Balaam son of Beor,^e who practiced divination.^{f 23}The boundary of the Reubenites was the bank of the Jordan. These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the Reubenites, according to their clans.^g

²⁴This is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, according to its clans:

²⁵The territory of Jazer,^h all the towns of Gileadⁱ and half the Ammonite country as far as Aroer, near Rabbah;^{j 26}and from Heshbon^k to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, and from Mahanaim^l to the territory of Debir;^{m 27}and in the valley, Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah,ⁿ Sukkoth^o and Zaphon^p with the rest of the realm of Sihon king of Heshbon (the east side of the Jordan, the territory up to the end of the Sea of Galilee^bq). ²⁸These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the Gadites,^r according to their clans.

²⁹This is what Moses had given to the half-tribe of Manasseh, that is, to half the family of the descendants of Manasseh, according to its clans:

³⁰The territory extending from Mahanaim^s and including all of Bashan,^t the entire realm of Og king of Bashan^u—all the settlements of Jair^v in Bashan, sixty towns, ³¹half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth and Edrei (the royal cities of Og in Bashan).^w This was for the descendants of Makir^x son of Manasseh—for half of the sons of Makir, according to their clans.^y

³²This is the inheritance Moses had given when he was in the plains of Moab^z across the Jordan east of Jericho.^{a 33}But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance;^b the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance,^c as he promised them.^d

Division of the Land West of the Jordan

14Now these are the areas the Israelites received as an inheritance^e in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar^f the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel^g allotted^h to them.^{i 2}Their inheritances were assigned by lot^j to the nine and a half tribes,^k as the Lord had commanded through Moses. ³Moses had granted the two and a half tribes their inheritance east of the Jordan^l but had not granted the Levites an inheritance among the rest,^{m 4}for Joseph’s descendants had become two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim.ⁿ The Levites received no share of the land but only towns to live in, with pasturelands for their flocks and herds.^{o 5}So the Israelites divided the land, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^p

Allotment for Caleb

⁶Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal,^q and Caleb son of Jephunneh^r the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God^s at Kadesh Barnea^t about you and me.^{u 7}I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea^v to explore the land.^w And I brought him back a report according to my convictions,^{x 8}but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear.^y I, however, followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.^{z 9}So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance^a and that of your children^b forever, because you have followed the Lord my God wholeheartedly.’^a

¹⁰“Now then, just as the Lord promised,^c he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved^d about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!^{e 11}I am still as strong^f today as the day Moses sent me out; I’m just as vigorous^g to go out to battle now as I was then. ¹²Now give me this hill country that the Lord promised me that day.^h You yourself heard then that the Anakitesⁱ were there and their cities were large and fortified,^j but, the Lord helping me, I will drive them out just as he said.”

¹³Then Joshua blessed^k Caleb son of Jephunneh^l and gave him Hebron^m as his inheritance.^{n 14}So Hebron has belonged to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite ever since, because he followed the Lord, the God of Israel, wholeheartedly.^{o 15}(Hebron used to be called Kiriath Arba^p after Arba,^q who was the greatest man among the Anakites.)

Then the land had rest^r from war.

Allotment for Judah

15:15–19pp—Jdg 1:11–15

15The allotment for the tribe of Judah, according to its clans, extended down to the territory of Edom,^s to the Desert of Zin^t in the extreme south.^u

²Their southern boundary started from the bay at the southern end of the Dead Sea,^{v 3}crossed south of Scorpion Pass,^w continued on to Zin and went over to the south of Kadesh Barnea.^x Then it ran past Hezron up to Addar and curved around to Karka. ⁴It then passed along to Azmon^y and joined the Wadi of Egypt,^z ending at the Mediterranean Sea. This is their^a southern boundary.

⁵The eastern boundary^a is the Dead Sea^b as far as the mouth of the Jordan.

The northern boundary^c started from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan, ⁶went up to Beth Hoglah^d and continued north of Beth Arabah^e to the Stone of Bohan^f son of Reuben. ⁷The boundary then went up to Debir^g from the Valley of Achor^h and turned north to Gilgal,ⁱ which faces the Pass of Adummim south of the gorge. It continued along to the waters of En Shemesh^j and came out at En Rogel.^{k 8}Then it ran up the Valley of Ben Hinnom^l along the southern slope of the Jebusite^m city (that is, Jerusalemⁿ). From there it climbed to the top of the hill west of the Hinnom Valley^o at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim.^{p 9}From the hilltop the boundary headed toward the spring of the waters of Nephtoah,^q came out at the towns of Mount Ephron and went down toward Baalah^r (that is, Kiriath Jearim).^{s 10}Then it curved westward from Baalah^t to Mount Seir,^u ran along the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), continued down to Beth Shemesh^v and crossed to Timnah.^{w 11}It went to the northern slope of Ekron,^x turned toward Shikkeron, passed along to Mount Baalah^y and reached Jabneel.^z The boundary ended at the sea.

¹²The western boundary is the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.^a

These are the boundaries around the people of Judah by their clans.

¹³In accordance with the Lord’s command to him, Joshua gave to Caleb^b son of Jephunneh a portion in Judah—Kiriath Arba^c, that is, Hebron.^d (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)^{e 14}From Hebron Caleb drove out the three Anakites^f—Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai,^g the sons of Anak.^{h 15}From there he marched against the people living in Debir (formerly called Kiriath Sepher). ¹⁶And Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Aksahⁱ in marriage to the man who attacks and captures Kiriath Sepher.” ¹⁷Othniel^j son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, took it; so Caleb gave his daughter Aksah to him in marriage.

¹⁸One day when she came to Othniel, she urged him^b to ask her father for a field. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What can I do for you?”

¹⁹She replied, “Do me a special favor. Since you have given me land in the Negev,^k give me also springs of water.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.^l

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, according to its clans:

²¹The southernmost towns of the tribe of Judah in the Negev^m toward the boundary of Edom were:

Kabzeel,ⁿ Eder,^o…