Joshua 14–19

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}Othniel son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it, and he gave him his daughter Achsah as wife. ¹⁸When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb said to her, “What do you wish?”^{* 19}She said to him, “Give me a present; since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me springs of water as well.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The Towns of Judah

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their families. ²¹The towns belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, ²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah,^{* 29}Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,^{* 32}Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine towns, with their villages.

³³And in the lowland, Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,^{* 34}Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,^{* 36}Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen towns with their villages.

³⁷Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, ³⁸Dilan, Mizpeh, Jokthe-el,^{* 39}Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,^{* 40}Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, ⁴¹Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen towns with their villages.

⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine towns with their villages.

⁴⁵Ekron, with its towns and its villages; ⁴⁶from Ekron to the sea, all that were near Ashdod, with their villages.

⁴⁷Ashdod, its towns and its villages; Gaza, its towns and its villages; to the Wadi of Egypt, and the Great Sea with its coast.^*

⁴⁸And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven towns with their villages.^*

⁵²Arab, Dumah, Eshan, ⁵³Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior: nine towns with their villages.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten towns with their villages.

⁵⁸Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six towns with their villages.

⁶⁰Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah: two towns with their villages.^*

⁶¹In the wilderness, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi: six towns with their villages.

⁶³But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live with the people of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.^*

The Territory of Ephraim

¹⁶The allotment of the Josephites went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel;^{* 2}then going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites;^{* 3}then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower Beth-horon, then to Gezer, and it ends at the sea.^*

⁴The Josephites—Manasseh and Ephraim—received their inheritance.

⁵The territory of the Ephraimites by their families was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon,^{* 6}and the boundary goes from there to the sea; on the north is Michmethath; then on the east the boundary makes a turn toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah,^{* 7}then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and to Naarah and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan.^{* 8}From Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the Wadi Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the Ephraimites by their families,^{* 9}together with the towns that were set apart for the Ephraimites within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. ¹⁰They did not, however, drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived within Ephraim to this day but have been made to do forced labor.^*

The Other Half-Tribe of Manasseh (West)

¹⁷Then allotment was made to the tribe of Manasseh, for he was the firstborn of Joseph. To Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a warrior.^{* 2}And allotments were made to the rest of the tribe of Manasseh by their families, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida; these were the male descendants of Manasseh son of Joseph by their families.^*

³Now Zelophehad son of Hepher son of Gilead son of Machir son of Manasseh had no sons but only…