Joshua 21
1 And the leaders of the families of Levi approached Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the rulers of the extended families of each of the tribes of the sons of Israel.
Then the tribal leaders of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the leaders of the families of their ancestors within the people of Israel.
2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, and they said, “The Lord instructed, by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given to us as habitations, with their suburbs to nourish our cattle.”
They said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “Yahweh commanded you by the hand of Moses to give to us cities to live in, with the pasturelands for our livestock.”
3 And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs from their possessions, in accord with the order of the Lord.
So by the command of Yahweh, the people of Israel gave out of their inheritance the following cities, including their pasturelands, to the Levites.
4 And the lot went out for the family of Kohath, of the sons of Aaron, the priest, from the tribes of Judah and Simeon and Benjamin: thirteen cities.
The casting of lots for the clans of the Kohathites gave this result: The priests—the descendants of Aaron who were from the Levites—received thirteen cities given from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.
5 And to the remainder of the sons of Kohath, that is, to the Levites who were left over, there went, from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
The rest of the Kohathites were allotted ten cities from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and from the half tribe of Manasseh.
6 And next the lot went out to the sons of Gershon, so that they would receive, from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh at Bashan: the number of thirteen cities.
Then the people descended from Gershon were given, by the casting of lots, thirteen cities from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 And to the sons of Merari, by their families, from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun, there went twelve cities.
The people who were descendants of Merari, clan by clan, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs to the Levites, just as the Lord instructed by the hand of Moses, distributing to each by lot.
So the people of Israel gave, by casting lots, these cities (including their pasturelands) to the Levites, just as Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses.
9 From the tribes of the sons of Judah and Simeon, Joshua gave cities, whose names are these:
From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they assigned land to the following cities, here listed by name.
10 to the sons of Aaron, of the families of Kohath of the stock of Levi, (for the first lot went out for them, )
These cities were given to the descendants of Aaron, who were among the clans of the Kohathites, who in turn were from the tribe of Levi. For the first casting of lots had fallen to them.
11 the city of Arba, the father of Anak, which is called Hebron, on the mountain of Judah, and its surrounding suburbs.
The Israelites gave them Kiriath Arba (Arba had been the father of Anak), the same place as Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the pasturelands around it.
12 Yet truly, the fields and its villages he had given to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as a possession.
But the fields of the city, including their villages, were already given to Caleb son of Jephunneh, as his possession.
13 Therefore, he gave to the sons of Aaron the priest, Hebron as a city of refuge, as well as its suburbs, and Libnah, with its suburbs,
To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasturelands—which was a city of refuge for any who killed another unintentionally—and Libnah with its pasturelands,
14 and Jattir, and Eshtemoa,
Jattir with its pasturelands, and Eshtemoa with its pasturelands.
15 and Holon, and Debir,
They also gave Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,
16 and Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their suburbs: nine cities from two tribes, just as has been said.
Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasturelands. There were nine cities that were given from these two tribes.
17 Then, from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, he gave Gibeon, and Geba,
From the tribe of Benjamin were given Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,
18 and Anathoth, and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.
Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its suburbs—four cities.
19 All the cities together of the sons of Aaron, the priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.
The cities given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were thirteen cities in all, including their pasturelands.
20 Yet truly, the remainder of the families of the sons of Kohath, of the stock of Levi, were given this possession:
As for the rest of Kohathites who belong to the Kohathite clans of the Levites—they had cities given to them from the tribe of Ephraim by the casting of lots.
21 from the tribe of Ephraim, Shechem, one of the cities of refuge, with its suburbs, on mount Ephraim, and Gezer,
To them were given Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim—a city of refuge for any who killed a person unintentionally—Gezer with its pasturelands,
22 and Kibzaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities;
Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth Horon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
23 and from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon,
From the tribe of Dan, the clan of Kohath was given Eltekeh with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,
24 and Aijalon and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, four cities;
Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
25 then, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, two cities.
From the half tribe of Manasseh, the clan of Kohath was given Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities.
26 All the cities were ten, with their suburbs; these were given to the sons of Kohath, of the lesser degree.
There were ten cities in all for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites, including their pasturelands.
27 Likewise, to the sons of Gershon, of the stock of Levi, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, went Golan in Bashan, one of the cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their suburbs, two cities;
From the half tribe of Manasseh, to clans of Gershon, these were other Levite clans, and they gave Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands—a city of refuge for anyone who killed another unintentionally, along with Be Eshterah with its pasturelands—two cities in all.
28 also, from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, and Daberath,
To the clans of Gershon they also gave Kishion from the tribe of Issachar, along with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,
29 and Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities;
Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En Gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.
30 then, from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon,
From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,
31 and Helkath and Rehob, with their suburbs, four cities;
Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
32 likewise, from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge, and Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan, with their suburbs, three cities.
From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave the clans of Gershon Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands—a city of refuge for anyone who killed another unintentionally; Hammoth Dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities in all.
33 All the cities of the families of Gershon were thirteen, with their suburbs.
There were thirteen cities in all, out of the clans of Gershon, including their pasturelands.
34 Then, to the sons of Merari, Levites of the lesser degree, by their families, were given, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah,
To the rest of the Levites—the clans of Merari—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,
35 and Dimnah and Nahalal, four cities with their suburbs;
Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
36 from the tribe of Reuben, beyond the Jordan, opposite Jericho, Bezer in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Misor and Jazer, and Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs;
To the clans of Merari were given from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands,
37 from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth of Gilead, one of the cities of refuge, and Mahanaim and Heshbon and Jazer, four cities with their suburbs.
Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.
Out of the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands—a city of refuge for any who killed another unintentionally—and Mahanaim with its pasturelands.
The clans of Merari were also given Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands. These were four cities in all.
40 All the cities of the sons of Merari, by their families and extended families, were twelve.
All these were the cities of the several clans of Merari, who were from the tribe of Levi—twelve cities in all were given to them by the casting of lots.
41 And so all the cities of the Levites, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel, were forty-eight,
The cities of the Levites taken from the middle of the land possessed by the people of Israel were forty-eight cities, including their pasturelands.
42 with their suburbs, each distributed by families.
These cities each had its surrounding pasturelands. It was this way with all these cities.
43 And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn he would deliver to their fathers. And they possessed it, and they lived in it.
So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their ancestors. The Israelites took possession of it and settled there.
44 And he gave them peace with all the surrounding nations. And none of their enemies dared to stand against them; instead, they were brought under their sovereignty.
Then Yahweh gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies could defeat them. Yahweh gave all their enemies into their hand.
45 Indeed, not so much as one word that he had promised to provide for them was left empty; instead, everything was fulfilled.
Not one thing among all the good promises that Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel failed to come true. All of them came to be.
