Joshua 21

1 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel

Then came near the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2 at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”

and they spoke unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying: 'The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the open land thereabout for our cattle.'

3 So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of the LORD, these cities with the open land about them.

4 The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites; and the children 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.

5 The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

And the rest of the children 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.

6 The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

And the children 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.

7 And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

The children 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.

8 So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with the open land about them, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

9 From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name

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

10 to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

And they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot.

11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

And they gave them Kiriath-arba, which Arba was the father of Anak — the same is Hebron — in the hill-country of Judah, with the open land round about it.

12 But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

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

13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with the open land about it;

14 Jattir, Eshtemoa,

and Jattir with the open land about it, and Eshtemoa with the open land about it;

15 Holon, Debir,

and Holon with the open land about it, and Debir with the open land about it;

16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

and Ain with the open land about it, and Juttah with the open land about it, and Beth-shemesh with the open land about it; nine cities out of those two tribes.

17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with the open land about it, Geba with the open land about it;

18 Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

Anathoth with the open land about it, and Almon with the open land about it; four cities.

19 In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with the open land about them.

20 The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim

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

21 they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

And they gave them Shechem with the open land about it in the hill-country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with the open land about it;

22 Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

and Kibzaim with the open land about it, and Beth-horon with the open land about it; four cities.

23 From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with the open land about it, Gibbethon with the open land about it;

24 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

Aijalon with the open land about it, Gath-rimmon with the open land about it; four cities.

25 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with the open land about it, and Gath-rimmon with the open land about it; two cities.

26 In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with the open land about them.

27 This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer; and Beeshterah with the open land about it; two cities.

28 From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with the open land about it, Dobrath with the open land about it;

29 Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

Jarmuth with the open land about it, En-gannim with the open land about it; four cities.

30 From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with the open land about it, Abdon with the open land about it;

31 Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

Helkath with the open land about it, and Rehob with the open land about it; four cities.

32 And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with the open land about it, and Kartan with the open land about it; three cities.

33 In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with the open land about them.

34 This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with the open land about it, and Kartah with the open land about it;

35 Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

Dimnah with the open land about it, Nahalal with the open land about it; four cities.

36 From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with the open land about it, and Jahaz with the open land about it;

37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

Kedemoth with the open land about it, and Mephaath with the open land about it; four cities.

38 And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,

And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with the open land about it;

39 Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

Heshbon with the open land about it, Jazer with the open land about it; four cities in all.

40 In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

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

41 For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.

All the cities of the Levites — forty and eight cities with the open land about them — shall be in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel,

42 Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

even these cities, every one with the open land round about it; thus it shall be with all these cities.

43 Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.

So the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which He swore to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

44 And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that He swore unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

45 Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.

There failed not aught of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.