The Land That Remained to Be Taken Over

13 Joshua was now very old. The Lord said to him, “You are very old. And there are still very large areas of land that have not been taken over yet.

2“Here is the land that remains to be taken over. It includes all of the areas of Philistia and Geshur. 3Those areas begin at the Shihor River in the eastern part of Egypt. They go to the territory of Ekron in the north. All of that land is considered as belonging to the people of Canaan. The land that remains to be taken over includes the territory of the five rulers of Philistia. They rule over Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath and Ekron. The Avvites 4live south of them. The rest of the land of Canaan that remains to be taken over reaches from Arah all the way to Aphek. Arah belongs to the people of Sidon. The land that remains to be taken over includes the area where the Amorites live. 5It includes the area where the people of Byblos live. It also includes all of Lebanon to the east. It reaches from Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

6“I myself will drive out all of the people who live in the mountain areas. Those areas reach from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim. They include the area where all of the people of Sidon live. I myself will drive those people out to make room for the people of Israel.

“Make sure you set that land apart for Israel. Give it to them as their share, just as I have directed you. 7Divide it up among the nine tribes and half of the tribe of Manasseh. Give each tribe its share.”

Moses Had Given the Eastern Tribes Their Land

8The other half of Manasseh’s tribe had already received the share of land Moses had given them. Their share was east of the Jordan River. The tribes of Reuben and Gad had already received their share too. Moses, the servant of the Lord, had given it to them.

9That land starts at Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley. It includes the town in the middle of the valley. It includes the high flatlands of Medeba all the way to Dibon. 10It also includes all of the towns of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. That area reaches to the border of Ammon. 11It also includes Gilead. It includes the territory of Geshur and Maacah. It includes Mount Hermon and the whole land of Bashan all the way to Salecah.

12So it includes the entire kingdom of Og in Bashan. Og had ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. He was one of the last of the Rephaites. Moses had won the battle over Sihon and Og. He had taken over their land.

13But the people of Israel didn’t drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah. So they continue to live among the people of Israel to this very day.

14Moses hadn’t given any share of the land to the tribe of Levi. That’s because the offerings that are made with fire are their share. Those offerings are made to the Lord, the God of Israel. Moses gave the Levites what he had promised them.

15Here is what Moses had given to the tribe of Reuben, family group by family group.

16Their territory starts at Aroer on the rim of the Arnon River valley. It includes the town in the middle of the valley. It includes all of the high flatlands that are near Medeba. 17It includes Heshbon and all of its towns on those flatlands. Those towns include Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, 18Jahaz, Kedemoth and Mephaath. 19They include Kiriathaim, Sibmah and Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley. 20They also include Beth Peor, Beth Jeshimoth and the slopes of Pisgah. 21All of those towns are on the high flatlands.

The territory includes the whole kingdom of Sihon, the king of the Amorites. He had ruled in Heshbon. Moses had won the battle over him and over the chiefs of Midian. Those chiefs were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba. They were princes who helped Sihon fight against Israel. They lived in that country. 22The people of Israel killed many of them in battle. They also killed Balaam with a sword. He was the son of Beor. Balaam used magic to find out what was going to happen.

23The border of the tribe of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan River. All of those towns and their villages were given to the tribe of Reuben as their very own. Each family group received its share.

24Here is what Moses had given to the tribe of Gad, family group by family group.

25Their territory includes Jazer and all of the towns of Gilead. It includes half of the country of Ammon all the way to Aroer, which was near Rabbah. 26Their territory reaches from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim. It reaches from Mahanaim to the territory of Debir. 27In the valley their land includes Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon. It also includes the rest of the kingdom of Sihon. He was the king of Heshbon. His kingdom included the east side of the Jordan River. It reached up to the south end of the Sea of Galilee. 28All of those towns and their villages were given to the tribe of Gad as their very own. Each family group received its share.

29Here is what Moses had given to half of the tribe of Manasseh, family group by family group. It’s what Moses had given to half of Manasseh’s family line.

30Their territory starts at Mahanaim. It includes the whole land of Bashan. That was the entire kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan. Manasseh’s territory includes all of the 60 towns of Jair in Bashan. 31It includes half of the land of Gilead. It also includes Ashtaroth and Edrei. They were the royal cities of Og in Bashan. That land was given to half of the family line of Makir. He was the son of Manasseh. Each family group received its share.

32Those were the shares of land Moses had given the eastern tribes when he was in the flatlands of Moab. The flatlands are across the Jordan River east of Jericho. 33But Moses hadn’t given any share to the tribe of Levi. The Lord, the God of Israel, is their share. Moses gave the Levites what he had promised them.