Chapter 20

Six Cities of Refuge

1 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, saying,

2 “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘1Designate athe cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you 2through Moses,

3 that the manslayer who 1kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood.

4 ‘He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the agate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city; and they shall 1take him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may dwell among them.

5 ‘Now aif the avenger of blood pursues him, then they shall not deliver the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.

6 ‘He shall dwell in that city auntil he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the manslayer shall 1return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

7 So they 1set apart aKedesh in 2Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in bthe hill country of Judah.

8 Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they 1designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

9 aThese were the appointed cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who sojourns among them, that whoever 1kills any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

Chapter 21

Forty-eight Cities of the Levites

1 Then the heads of 1households of athe Levites approached Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of 1households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

2 They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “aThe Lord commanded 1through Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.”

3 So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these cities with their pasture lands, according to the 1command of the Lord.

4 Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, 1received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of the Simeonites and from the tribe of Benjamin.

5 The rest of the sons of Kohath 1received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 The sons of Gershon 1received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7 The sons of Merari according to their families 1received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.

8 Now the asons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded 1through Moses.

9 They gave these cities which are here mentioned by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon;

10 and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, for the lot was theirs first.

11 Thus athey gave them Kiriath-arba, Arba being the bfather of Anak (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.

12 But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 So ato the sons of Aaron the priest they gave bHebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and cLibnah with its pasture lands,

14 and aJattir with its pasture lands and bEshtemoa with its pasture lands,

15 and 1Holon with its pasture lands and aDebir with its pasture lands,

16 and 1Ain with its pasture lands and aJuttah with its pasture lands and bBeth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

17 From the tribe of Benjamin, aGibeon with its pasture lands, bGeba with its pasture lands,

18 Anathoth with its pasture lands and 1Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.

19 All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

20 Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the afamilies of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath.

21 They gave them aShechem, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,

22 and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities.

23 From the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,

24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities.

25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.

26 All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten.

27 aTo the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.

28 From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,

29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities.

30 From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,

31 Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities.

32 From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave aKedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.

33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

34 To the families of athe sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands.

35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities.

36 From the tribe of Reuben, they gave aBezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands,

37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities.

38 From the tribe of Gad, they gave aRamoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasture lands and bMahanaim with its pasture lands,

39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.

40 All these were the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

41 aAll the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.

42 These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; thus it was with all these cities.

43 aSo the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and bthey possessed it and lived in it.

44 And the Lord agave them rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and bno one of all their enemies stood before them; cthe Lord gave all their enemies into their hand.

45 aNot 1one of the good promises which the Lord had 2made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.

Chapter 22

Tribes beyond Jordan Return

1 aThen Joshua summoned the Reubenites and the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh,

2 and said to them, “You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, aand have listened to my voice in all that I commanded you.

3 “You have not forsaken your brothers these many days to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God.

4 “And now athe Lord your God has given rest to your brothers, as He spoke to them; therefore turn now and go to your tents, to the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan.

5 “Only be very careful to observe the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, to alove the Lord your God and walk in all His ways and keep His commandments and hold fast to Him and serve Him bwith all your heart and with all your soul.”

6 So Joshua ablessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

7 Now ato the one half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but bto the other half Joshua gave a possession among their brothers westward beyond the Jordan. So when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them,

8 and said to 1them, “Return to your tents with great riches and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and with very many clothes; adivide the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”

9 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home and departed from the sons of Israel at Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan, to go to the aland of Gilead, to the land of their possession which they had possessed, according to the 1command of the Lord 2through Moses.

The Offensive Altar

10 When they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan, a large altar in appearance.

11 And the sons of Israel heard it 1said, “Behold, the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh have abuilt an altar at the 2frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan, on the side belonging to the sons of Israel.”

12 When the sons of Israel heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered themselves at aShiloh to go up against them in war.

13 Then the sons of Israel sent to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, aPhinehas the son of Eleazar the priest,

14 and with him ten chiefs, one chief for each father’s household from each of the tribes of Israel; and aeach one of them was the head of his father’s household among the 1thousands of Israel.

15 They came to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the half-tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them saying,

16 “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord, ‘What is this unfaithful act which you have committed against the God of Israel, turning away from following the Lord this day, by abuilding yourselves an altar, to rebel against the Lord this day?

17 ‘Is not athe iniquity of Peor 1enough for us, from which we have not cleansed ourselves to this day, although a plague came on the congregation of the Lord,

18 that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, aHe will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel tomorrow.

19 ‘If, however, the land of your possession is unclean, then 1cross into the land of the possession of the Lord, where the Lord’s tabernacle 2stands, and take possession among us. Only do not rebel against the Lord, or rebel against us by abuilding an altar for yourselves, besides the altar of the Lord our God.

20 ‘Did not aAchan the son of Zerah act unfaithfully in the things under the ban, and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”

21 Then the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh answered and spoke to the heads of the 1families of Israel.

22 “The aMighty One, God, the Lord, the Mighty One, God, the Lord! bHe knows, and may Israel itself know. If it was in rebellion, or if in an unfaithful act against the Lord do not save us this day!

23 “If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if to aoffer a burnt offering or grain offering on it, or if to offer sacrifices of peace offerings on it, may the Lord Himself require it.

24 “But truly we have done this out of concern, 1for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your sons may say to our 2sons, “What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?

25 “For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you, you sons of Reuben and sons of Gad; you have no portion in the Lord.” So your sons may make our sons stop fearing the Lord.’

26 “Therefore we said, ‘Let us 1build an altar, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice;

27 rather it shall be aa witness between us and you and between our generations after us, that we are to bperform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, and with our sacrifices and with our peace offerings, so that your sons will not say to our sons in time to come, “You have no portion in the Lord.” ’

28 “Therefore we said, ‘It shall also come about if they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, then we shall say, “See the copy of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, not for burnt offering or for sacrifice; rather it is a witness between us and you.” ’

29 “Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away from following the Lord this day, by abuilding an altar for burnt offering, for grain offering or for sacrifice, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His 1tabernacle.”

30 So when Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the congregation, even the heads of the 1families of Israel who were with him, heard the words which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the sons of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them.

31 And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the sons of Reuben and to the sons of Gad and to the sons of Manasseh, “Today we know that the aLord is in our midst, because you have not committed this unfaithful act against the Lord; now you have delivered the sons of Israel from the hand of the Lord.”

32 Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the sons of Reuben and from the sons of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the sons of Israel, and brought back word to them.

33 The word pleased the sons of Israel, and the sons of Israel ablessed God; and they did not speak of going up against them in war to destroy the land in which the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad were living.

34 The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad acalled the altar Witness; “For,” they said, “it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”