Joshua 18

1 And the whole assembly of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before 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 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not been distributed to them.

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

3 And Joshua said to the children of Israel, How long will ye shew yourselves slack to go to take possession of the land which Jehovah the God of your fathers hath given 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 Provide you three men for a tribe; that I may send them, and they shall rise and go through the land, and describe it according to the proportion of their inheritance, and they shall come to me.

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 And they shall divide it into seven portions. Judah shall remain in their border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain in their border on 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 and ye shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring [the description] hither to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Jehovah our 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 the Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of Jehovah is their inheritance. And Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of Jehovah gave 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 the men arose and went away. And Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, and I will cast lots for you here before Jehovah 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 the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions, in a book, and they came 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 Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Jehovah. And there Joshua divided the land to the children of Israel according to their divisions.

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 lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families. And the territory of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children 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 on the north side was from the Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up to the mountain westward; and ended at the wilderness of Beth-Aven;

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 the border passed on from thence toward Luz, to the south side of Luz, which is Bethel: and the border went down to Ataroth-Addar, near the hill that is on the south of the 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 the border reached along and turned on the west side, southward from the hill that is before Beth-horon southward; and ended at Kirjath-Baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this is the west side.

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 — And the south side was from the extreme end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the spring 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 the border went down to the end of the mountain that is before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim on the north, and went down the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite on the south, and went down to En-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 and it reached along on the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth towards Geliloth, which is opposite to the ascent of Adummim, and went down to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben,

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 passed along towards the side opposite to Arabah northwards, and went down to Arabah;

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

19 and the border passed on to the side of Beth-hoglah on the north, and the border ended at the tongue of the salt sea northward, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.

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 — And the Jordan borders it on the east side. — This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, according to its borders round about, according to 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 the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were: Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-Keziz,

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

22 and Beth-Arabah, and Zemaraim, and Bethel,

Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 and Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities and their hamlets;

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, and Jirpeel, and Tharalah,

Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 and Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, that is, Jerusalem, Gibeah, Kirjath: fourteen cities and their hamlets. This was the inheritance of the children 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.