Joshua 13–21

The Parts of Canaan Still Unconquered

¹³Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, “You are old and advanced in years, and very much of the land still remains to be possessed.^{* 2}This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the Philistines, and all those of the Geshurites ³(from the Shihor, which is near Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, it is reckoned as Canaanite; there are five rulers of the Philistines, those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron), and those of the Avvim^{* 4}in the south; all the land of the Canaanites, and Mearah that belongs to the Sidonians, to Aphek, to the boundary of the Amorites, ⁵and the land of the Gebalites, and all Lebanon, toward the east, from Baal-gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo-hamath, ⁶all the inhabitants of the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth-maim, even all the Sidonians. I will myself drive them out from before the Israelites; only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance, as I have commanded you.^{* 7}Now, therefore, divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh.”

The Territory East of the Jordan

⁸With the other half-tribe of Manasseh^x the Reubenites and the Gadites received their inheritance, which Moses gave them, beyond the Jordan eastward, as Moses the servant of the Lord gave them:^{* 9}from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and the town that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland from^y Medeba as far as Dibon;^{* 10}and all the cities of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, as far as the boundary of the Ammonites;^{* 11}and Gilead, and the region of the Geshurites and Maacathites, and all Mount Hermon, and all Bashan to Salecah; ¹²all the kingdom of Og in Bashan, who reigned in Ashtaroth and in Edrei (he alone was left of the survivors of the Rephaim); these Moses had defeated and driven out.^{* 13}Yet the Israelites did not drive out the Geshurites or the Maacathites, but Geshur and Maacath live within Israel to this day.

¹⁴To the tribe of Levi alone Moses gave no inheritance; the offerings by fire^z to the Lord God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to them.^*

The Territory of Reuben

¹⁵Moses gave an inheritance to the tribe of the Reubenites according to their families. ¹⁶Their territory was from Aroer, which is on the edge of the Wadi Arnon, and the town that is in the middle of the valley, and all the tableland by Medeba;^{* 17}with Heshbon, and all its towns that are in the tableland; Dibon, and Bamoth-baal, and Beth-baal-meon, ¹⁸and Jahaz, and Kedemoth, and Mephaath, ¹⁹and Kiriathaim, and Sibmah, and Zereth-shahar on the hill of the valley, ²⁰and Beth-peor, and the slopes of Pisgah, and Beth-jeshimoth, ²¹that is, all the towns of the tableland, and all the kingdom of King Sihon of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, as princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.^{* 22}Along with the rest of those they put to death, the Israelites also put to the sword Balaam son of Beor, who practiced divination.^{* 23}And the border of the Reubenites was the Jordan and its banks. This was the inheritance of the Reubenites according to their families, with their towns and villages.

The Territory of Gad

²⁴Moses gave an inheritance also to the tribe of the Gadites, according to their families. ²⁵Their territory was Jazer, and all the towns of Gilead, and half the land of the Ammonites, to Aroer, which is near Rabbah,^{* 26}and from Heshbon to Ramath-mizpeh and Betonim, and from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir,^{a 27}and in the valley Beth-haram, Beth-nimrah, Succoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon, the Jordan and its banks, as far as the lower end of the Sea of Chinnereth, eastward beyond the Jordan.^{* 28}This is the inheritance of the Gadites according to their families, with their towns and villages.

The Territory of the Half-Tribe of Manasseh (East)

²⁹Moses gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of Manasseh; it was allotted to the half-tribe of the Manassites according to their families. ³⁰Their territory extended from Mahanaim, through all Bashan, the whole kingdom of King Og of Bashan, and all the settlements of Jair, which are in Bashan, sixty towns,^{* 31}and half of Gilead, and Ashtaroth, and Edrei, the towns of the kingdom of Og in Bashan; these were allotted to the people of Machir son of Manasseh according to their families, for half the Machirites.

³²These are the inheritances that Moses distributed in the plains of Moab, beyond the Jordan east of Jericho. ³³But to the tribe of Levi Moses gave no inheritance; the Lord God of Israel is their inheritance, as he said to them.^*

The Distribution of Territory West of the Jordan

¹⁴These are the inheritances that the Israelites received in the land of Canaan, which the priest Eleazar, and Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites distributed to them.^{* 2}Their inheritance was by lot, as the Lord had commanded Moses for the nine and one-half tribes.^{* 3}For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.^{* 4}For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and no portion was given to the Levites in the land but only towns to live in, with their pasturelands for their flocks and herds.^{* 5}The Israelites did as the Lord had commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

Hebron Allotted to Caleb

⁶Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me.^{* 7}I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him an honest report.^{* 8}But my companions who went up with me made the heart of the people melt, yet I wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.^{* 9}And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord my God.’^{* 10}And now, as you see, the Lord has kept me alive, as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel was journeying through the wilderness, and here I am today, eighty-five years old.^{* 11}I am still as strong today as I was on the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. ¹²So now give me this hill country of which the Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; it may be that the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out, as the Lord said.”^*

¹³Then Joshua blessed him and gave Hebron to Caleb son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.^{* 14}So Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day, because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba; Arba was^b the greatest man among the Anakim. And the land had rest from war.^*

The Territory of Judah

¹⁵The lot for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families reached southward to the boundary of Edom, to the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south.^{* 2}And their south boundary ran from the end of the Dead Sea,^c from the bay that faces southward; ³it goes out southward of the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, makes a turn to Karka,^{* 4}passes along to Azmon, goes out by the Wadi of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary.^{* 5}And the east boundary is the Dead Sea,^d to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan; ⁶and the boundary goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes along north of Beth-arabah; and the boundary goes up to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son;^{* 7}and the boundary goes up to Debir from the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley; and the boundary passes along to the waters of En-shemesh, and ends at En-rogel;^{* 8}then the boundary goes up by the valley of the son of Hinnom at the southern slope of the Jebusites (that is, Jerusalem); and the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the valley of Rephaim;^{* 9}then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain to the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the towns of Mount Ephron; then the boundary bends around to Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim);^{* 10}and the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern slope of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to Beth-shemesh, and passes along by Timnah;^{* 11}the boundary goes out to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron, and passes along to Mount Baalah, and goes out to Jabneel; then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. ¹²And the west boundary is the Mediterranean with its coast. This is the boundary surrounding the people of Judah according to their families.^*

Caleb Occupies His Portion

¹³But to Caleb son of Jephunneh, Joshua^e gave a portion among the people of Judah according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak).^{* 14}And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak: Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the descendants of Anak.^{* 15}From there he went up against the inhabitants of Debir; now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher.^{* 16}And Caleb said, “Whoever attacks Kiriath-sepher and takes it, to him I will give my daughter Achsah as wife.”^{* 17}…