Joshua 19–21

Simeon’s Inheritance with Judah

19The ^asecond lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. ^bAnd their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. ^2cThey had in 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 all around these cities as far as Baalath Beer, ^dRamah of the South. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

⁹The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was ¹too much for them. ^eTherefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of ²that people.

The Land of Zebulun

¹⁰The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun according to their families, and the border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. ^11fTheir border went toward the west and to Maralah, went to Dabbasheth, and extended along the brook that is ^geast of Jokneam. ¹²Then from Sarid it went eastward toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth Tabor, and went out toward ^hDaberath, bypassing Japhia. ¹³And from there it passed along on the east of ⁱGath Hepher, toward Eth Kazin, and extended to Rimmon, which borders on Neah. ¹⁴Then the border went around it on the north side of Hannathon, and ³it ended in the Valley of Jiphthah El. ¹⁵Included were Kattath, Nahallal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages. ¹⁶This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Issachar

¹⁷The fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. ¹⁸And their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹Haphraim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, Abez, ²¹Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez. ²²And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazimah, and ^jBeth Shemesh; their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. ²³This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Asher

^24kThe fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families. ²⁵And their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶Alammelech, Amad, and Mishal; it reached to ^lMount Carmel westward, along the Brook Shihor Libnath. ²⁷It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon; and it reached to Zebulun and to the Valley of Jiphthah El, then northward beyond Beth Emek and Neiel, bypassing ^mCabul which was on the left, ²⁸including ⁴Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, ⁿas far as Greater Sidon. ²⁹And the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea by the region of ^oAchzib. ³⁰Also Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were included: twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Naphtali

^32pThe sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families. ³³And their border began at Heleph, enclosing the territory from the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, Adami Nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; ⁵it ended at the Jordan. ^34qFrom Heleph the border extended westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there toward Hukkok; it adjoined Zebulun on the south side and Asher on the west side, and ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise. ³⁵And the fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ^37rKedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh: nineteen cities with their villages. ³⁹This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Dan

^40sThe seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. ⁴¹And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, ^tEshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ^42uShaalabbin, ^vAijalon, Jethlah, ⁴³Elon, Timnah, ^wEkron, ⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the region ⁶near ⁷Joppa. ⁴⁷And the ^xborder of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it; and they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, ^yDan, after the name of Dan their father. ⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹When they had ⁸made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked for, ^zTimnath ^aSerah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it.

^51bThese were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot ^cin Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.

The Cities of Refuge

20The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, ²“Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ^a‘Appoint ¹for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and ²declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. ^5bThen if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. ⁶And he shall dwell in that city ^cuntil he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

⁷So they appointed ^dKedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, ^eShechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and ^fKirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in ^gthe mountains of Judah. ⁸And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned ^hBezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, ⁱRamoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^jGolan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ^9kThese were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who ³dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood ^luntil he stood before the congregation.

Cities of the Levites

21Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the ^aLevites came near to ^bEleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. ²And they spoke to them at ^cShiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, ^d“The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.” ³So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:

⁴Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And ^ethe children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, ^fhad thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin. ^5gThe rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶And ^hthe children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ⁱThe children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

^8jAnd the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, ^kas the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

⁹So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are ¹designated by name, ¹⁰which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for the lot was theirs first. ^11lAnd they gave them ²Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of ^mAnak), ⁿwhich is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it. ¹²But ^othe fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³Thus ^pto the children of Aaron the priest they gave ^qHebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^rLibnah with its common-land, ^14sJattir with its common-land, ^tEshtemoa with its common-land, ^15uHolon with its common-land, ^vDebir with its common-land, ^16wAin with its common-land, ^xJuttah with its common-land, and ^yBeth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes; ¹⁷and from the tribe of Benjamin, ^zGibeon with its common-land, ^aGeba with its common-land, ¹⁸Anathoth with its common-land, and ^bAlmon with its common-land: four cities. ¹⁹All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

^20cAnd the families of the children of…