Joshua 21

1 Then the heads of fathers of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

The leaders of the tribe of Levi approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the Israelite tribes.

2 And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs of it for our cattle.

They spoke to them at Shiloh in Canaan, saying, “The Lord gave instructions through Moses to give us towns to live in, and pastures for our flocks.”

3 And the sons of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Jehovah, these cities with their suburbs:

So, following the Lord's instructions, the Israelites gave towns and pastures to the Levites from their own allocations.

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

The lot was cast for the families of the Kothaites. These Levites, descendants of Aaron, were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 And the rest of the sons of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

The remaining families of the descendants of Kothah were allotted ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 And the sons of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

The families of the descendants of Gershon were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh living in Bashan.

7 The sons of Merari according to their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

The families of the descendants of Merari were allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8 And the sons of Israel gave these cities by lot to the Levites with their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded by Moses.

So the Israelites gave the Levites by lot these towns and pastures, as the Lord had instructed through Moses.

9 And they gave out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name,

They gave from the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon the following towns, specifically named,

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

to the families of the Kothaites, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, since the first lot fell to them:

11 And they gave them Kiriath-arba, Arba was the father of Anak (the same is Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah, with the suburbs of it round about it.

Kiriath-arba (or Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, together with the pastures around it. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

12 But the fields of the city, and the villages of it, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

But the more distant fields from the town and the villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh to own.

13 And to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with its suburbs,

They gave to the descendants of Aaron the priest the following towns and their pastures: Hebron (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Libnah,

14 and Jattir with its suburbs, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 and Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs,

Holon, Debir,

16 and Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.

17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its suburbs, Geba with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Benjamin the following four towns and their pastures: Gibeon, Geba,

18 Anathoth with its suburbs, and Almon with its suburbs; four cities.

Anathoth, and Almon.

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

So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

20 And the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the sons of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.

As for the remaining families of the children of Kothah from the tribe of Levi, they were given by lot four towns and their pastures from the tribe of Ephraim:

21 And they gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill-country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs,

Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Gezer,

22 and Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth-horon with its suburbs; four cities.

Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Dan, the following four towns and their pastures: Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

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

Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

25 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; two cities.

From the half-tribe of Manasseh the following two towns and their pastures: Taanach and Gath-rimmon.

26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.

So in total ten towns and their pastures were given to remaining families of the descendants of Kothah.

27 And to the sons of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be-eshterah with its suburbs; two cities.

The families of the descendants of Gershon from the tribe of Levi received the following two towns and their pastures from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), and Be-eshterah.

28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Issachar the following four towns and their pastures: Kishion, Daberath,

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

Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Asher the following four towns and their pastures: Mishal, Abdon,

31 Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities.

Helkath, and Rehob.

32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities.

From the tribe of Naphtali the following three towns and their pastures: Kedesh in Galilee (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan.

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

So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were allotted to the families of Gershon.

34 And to the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, and Kartah with its suburbs,

The families of the descendants of Merari, those remaining from the tribe of Levi, received the following four towns and their pastures from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam, Kartah,

35 Dimnah with its suburbs, Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities.

Dimnah, and Nahalal.

36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, and Jahaz with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Reuben the following four towns and their pastures: Bezer, Jahaz,

37 Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities.

Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Gad the following four towns and their pastures: Ramoth in Gilead (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Mahanaim,

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

Heshbon, and Jazer.

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

So in total twelve towns were allotted to the families of Merari, those remaining from the tribe of Levi.

41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs.

The Levites received a total of forty-eight towns and pastures within the land of the Israelites.

42 These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them. Thus it was with all these cities.

Each of these towns had pastures around them.

43 So Jehovah gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers, and they possessed it, and dwelt in it.

And so the Lord gave to the Israelites all the land he had promised their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled there.

44 And Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he swore to their fathers. And there stood not a man of all their enemies before them. Jehovah delivered all their enemies into their hand.

The Lord gave them peace on every side as he had promised their ancestors. Not a single one of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord had handed their enemies over to them to defeat.

45 There failed not anything of any good thing which Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Not a single one of the good things the Lord promised Israel had failed; everything had come true.