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

While Eleazar the Supreme Priest and Joshua and the leaders of all the Israeli tribes were at Shiloh, the leaders of the clans of the tribe of Levi went to them and said, “Yahweh commanded Moses that you should give us towns where we can have pasture/fields/grassland for our animals, [but you have not done these things yet].”

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.”

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

So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.

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.

[First] they allotted some cities to the Kohath clans, who belonged to the tribe of Levi. To those who were descendants of the first Supreme Priest Aaron, they allotted 13 towns in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

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

To the other members of the Kohath clan they allotted ten cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh [that lives on the west side of the Jordan River].

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.

The people from the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lives on the east side of the Jordan [River].

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

The people from the Merari clans were allotted twelve cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

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

So the Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.

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

These are the names of the cities and surrounding pasturelands that were allotted to them, that were in the areas where the tribes of Judah and Simeon lived.

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

First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.

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.)

They allotted to them Kiriath-Arba (which is [now named] Hebron), in the hilly area of Judah. Arba received its name because Arba was the ancestor of [the giants of] the Anak people-group.

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

But the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.

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,

They allotted to them Hebron, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected. They also allotted to the Kohath clan the cities of Libnah,

14 Jattir, Eshtemoa,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 Holon, Debir,

Holon, Debir,

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

Ain, Juttah, and Beth-Shemesh. Altogether they were allotted those nine cities which were located in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah and Simeon.

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

The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,

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

Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.

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

Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.

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

The other members the Kohath clan were allotted four cities and the surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Ephraim.

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

Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,

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

Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon.

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

They were also allotted four cities and surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Dan. Those cities were Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

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

Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.

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

They were also allotted two towns and surrounding pastureland that had been allotted to [the] part of the tribe of Manasseh [that lived on the west side of the Jordan River]. Those cities were Taanach and Gath-Rimmon.

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

Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.

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.

They also allotted towns and the surrounding pastureland to the Gershon clans. Those clans were also descended from Levi. They were allotted two cities from the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Manasseh [that is on the east side of the Jordan River]. Those cities were Golan in the Bashan region, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, and Be-Eshtarah.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath,

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

Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Asher they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Mishal, Abdon,

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

Helkath, and Rehob.

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.

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Naphtali they were allotted three cities. Those cities were Kedesh in the Galilee region (it was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan.

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

So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.

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

The other descendants of Levi, the ones who belonged to the Merari clans, were also allotted towns and their surrounding pasturelands. From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Zebulun they were allotted four cities. They were Jokneam, Kartah,

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

Dimnah, and Nahalal.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,

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

Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Gad they were allotted four cities. They were Ramoth, which was one of the cities in the Gilead region to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, Mahanaim,

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

Heshbon, and Jazer.

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

Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.

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

So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,

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

and each city had surrounding pastureland.

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.

In that way Yahweh allotted to the Israeli people all the land that he had promised to give to their/our ancestors. The Israeli people took control of [most of] those areas and started to live there.

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.

Just like he had promised our ancestors, Yahweh allowed them/us to have peace with the enemies that surrounded them/us. Yahweh enabled the Israelis/us to defeat their/our enemies.

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

Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.