Joshua 21

1 Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel;

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

2 And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle.

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 And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.

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

4 And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

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.

5 The rest of the children of Kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

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

6 The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan.

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

7 The children of Merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun.

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

8 All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses.

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

9 From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name:

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

10 These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution.

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

11 They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands.

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

12 But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property.

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

13 And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands;

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,

14 And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands;

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands;

Holon, Debir,

16 And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes.

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

17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands;

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

18 Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

19 Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests.

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

20 The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.

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

21 And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands;

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

22 And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

23 And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands;

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

24 Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

25 And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns.

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

26 All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands.

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

27 And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns.

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.

28 And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands;

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

29 Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

30 And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands:

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

31 Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

32 And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns.

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.

33 All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands.

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

34 And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands;

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

35 Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

36 And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands;

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

37 Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

38 And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands;

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

39 Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns.

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

40 All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns.

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

41 All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.

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

42 Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.

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

43 So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.

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.

44 And the Lord gave them peace on every side, as he had said to their fathers: all those who were against them gave way before them, for the Lord gave them all up into their hands.

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.

45 The Lord kept faith with the house of Israel about all the good which he said he would do for them, and all his words came true.

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