Joshua 18

1 And all the sons of Israel gathered together at Shiloh, and there they stationed the Tabernacle of the Testimony. And the land was subjected to them.

Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,

2 But there remained seven tribes of the sons of Israel which had not yet received their possessions.

there were still seven tribes of Israel who had not yet received their inheritance.

3 And Joshua said to them: “For how long will you draw back in idleness, and not enter to possess the land, which the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given to you?

So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you put off entering and possessing the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?

4 Select three men from each tribe, so that I may send them, and they may go forth and circle through the land, and may describe it according to the number of each multitude, and may bring back to me what they have written down.

Appoint three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to survey the land and map it out, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me

5 Divide the land for yourselves into seven parts. Let Judah be its bounds on the southern side, and the house of Joseph to the north.

and divide the land into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their territory in the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their territory in the north.

6 The land that is in the middle, between these, write it down in seven parts. And you shall come to me, so that I may cast lots for you about this, before the Lord your God.

When you have mapped out the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots for you here in the presence of the LORD our God.

7 But there is no portion among you for the Levites. Instead, the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. And Gad and Reuben, and the one half tribe of Manasseh, have already received their possessions beyond the Jordan in the eastern region, which Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave to them.”

The Levites, however, have no portion among you, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the LORD. And Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received the inheritance that Moses the servant of the LORD gave them beyond the Jordan to the east.”

8 And when the men had risen up, so that they might go out to describe the land, Joshua instructed them, saying, “Circle through the land, and describe it, and return to me, so that I may cast lots for you about this, before the Lord, in Shiloh.”

As the men got up to go out, Joshua commanded them to map out the land, saying, “Go and survey the land, map it out, and return to me. Then I will cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the LORD.”

9 And so they went out. And surveying it, they divided it into seven parts, writing it in a book. And they returned to Joshua, to the camp at Shiloh.

So the men departed and went throughout the land, mapping it city by city into seven portions. Then they returned with the document to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh.

10 And he cast lots before the Lord, at Shiloh, and he divided the land to the sons of Israel, in seven parts.

And Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the LORD at Shiloh, where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.

11 And the first lot went to the sons of Benjamin, by their families, so that they would possess the land between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

The first lot came up for the clans of the tribe of Benjamin. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 And their border toward the north was from the Jordan, continuing on, near the side of Jericho in the northern region, and from there, ascending toward the west to the mountains, and extending to the wilderness of Bethaven.

On the north side their border began at the Jordan, went up past the northern slope of Jericho, headed west through the hill country, and came out at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

13 And it continues to the south beside Luz, which is Bethel. And it descends into Ataroth-addar, at the mountain which is to the south of lower Beth-horon.

From there the border crossed over to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel) and went down to Ataroth-addar on the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.

14 And it turns aside, circling toward the sea, to the south of the mountain which looks out toward Beth-horon, toward the southwest. And its exits are toward Kiriath-baal, which is also called Kiriath-jearim, a city of the sons of Judah. This is their region, toward the sea, in the west.

On the west side the border curved southward from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south and came out at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the western side.

15 But to the south, the border goes on from the part of Kiriath-jearim toward the sea, and it continues as far as the Fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

On the south side the border began at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim and extended westward to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah.

16 And it descends to that part of the mountain which looks out toward the Valley of the sons of Hinnom. And it is opposite the northern region, in the furthest part of the Valley of the Rephaim. And it descends into Geennom, (that is, the Valley of Hinnom, ) near the side of the Jebusite toward the south. And it extends to the Fountain of Rogel,

Then it went down to the foot of the hill that faces the Valley of Hinnom at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim and ran down the Valley of Hinnom toward the southern slope of the Jebusites and downward to En-rogel.

17 crossing from there to the north, and going out to En-Shemesh, that is, to the Fountain of the Sun.

From there it curved northward and proceeded to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth facing the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben.

18 And it passes through to the hills that are opposite the region of the Ascent of Adummim. And it descends to Abenboen, that is, so the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben. And it continues on, at the northern side, to the plains. And it descends into the flatlands.

Then it went on to the northern slope of Beth-arabah and went down into the valley.

19 And it advances before Beth-hoglah, to the north. And its exits are to the north, opposite the bay of the very salty sea, in the southern region at the end of the Jordan,

The border continued to the northern slope of Beth-hoglah and came out at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border.

20 which is its border to the east. This is the possession of the sons of Benjamin, with their borders all around, and by their families.

On the east side the border was the Jordan. These were the borders around the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.

21 And their cities were: Jericho and Beth-hoglah and the Abrupt Valley,

These were the cities of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

22 Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel,

Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah,

Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 the town of Ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities, and their villages;

Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, along with their villages.

25 Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth,

Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26 and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah,

Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

27 and Rekem, Irpeel, and Taralah,

Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 and Zela, Haeleph, and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gibeah and Kiriath: fourteen cities, and their villages. This is the possession of the sons of Benjamin, according to their families.

Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim —fourteen cities, along with their villages. This was the inheritance of the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.