Joshua 21
1 Then the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar the priest, and to Josue the son of Nun, and to the princes of the kindreds of all the tribes of the children 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 And they spoke to them in Silo in the land of Chanaan, and said: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given us to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed our cattle.
3 And the children of Israel gave out of their possessions according to the commandment of the Lord, cities and their suburbs.
So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.
4 And the lot came out for the family of Caath of the children of Aaron the priest out of the tribes of Juda, and of Simeon, and of Benjamin, thirteen cities.
[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 And to the rest of the children of Caath, that is, to the Levites, who remained, out of the tribes of Ephraim, and of Dan, and the half tribe of Manasses, ten cities.
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 And the lot came out to the children of Gerson, that they should take of the tribes of Issachar and of Aser and of Nephtali, and of the half tribe of Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities.
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 to the sons of Merari by their kindreds, of the tribes of Ruben and or Cad and of Zabulon, twelve cities.
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 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities and their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, giving to every one by lot.
So the Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.
9 Of the tribes of the children of Juda and of Simeon Josue gave cities: whose names are these,
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 sons of Aaron, of the families of Caath of the race of Levi (for the first lot came out for them)
First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.
11 The city of Arbe the father of Enac, which is called Hebron, in the mountain of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about.
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 the fields and the villages thereof he had given to Caleb the son of Jephone for his possession.
But the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.
13 He gave therefore to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron a city of refuge, and the suburbs thereof: and Lobna with the suburbs thereof,
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 And Jether and Estemo,
Jattir, Eshtemoa,
15 And Holon, and Dabir,
Holon, Debir,
16 And Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs: nine cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said.
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 out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, Gabaon, and Gabae,
The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,
18 And Anathoth and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.
Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.
19 All the cities together of the children of Aaron the priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.
Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.
20 And to the rest of the families of the children of Caath of the race of Levi was given this possession.
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 Of the tribe of Ephraim, Sichem one of the cities of refuge, with the suburbs thereof in mount Ephraim, and Cater,
Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,
22 And Cibsaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities.
Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon.
23 And of the tribe of Dan, Eltheco and Gabathon,
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 And Aialon and Gethremmon, with their suburbs, four cities.
Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.
25 And of the half tribe of Manasses, Thanac and Gethremmon, with their suburbs, two cities.
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 All the cities were ten, with their suburbs, which were given to the children of Caath, of the inferior degree.
Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.
27 To the children of Gerson also of the race of Levi out of the half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon in Basan, one of the cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their suburbs, two cities.
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 And of the tribe of Issachar, Cesion, and Dabereth,
From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath,
29 And Jaramoth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities.
Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.
30 And of the tribe of Aser, Masal and Abdon,
From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Asher they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Mishal, Abdon,
31 And Helcath, and Rohob, with their suburbs, four cities.
Helkath, and Rehob.
32 Of the tribe also of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge: and Hammoth Dor, and Carthan, with their suburbs, three cities.
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 All the cities of the families of Gerson, were thirteen, with their suburbs.
So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.
34 And to the children of Merari, Levites of the inferior degree, by their families were given of the tribe of Zabulon, Jecnam and Cartha,
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 And Damna and Naalol, four cities with their suburbs;
Dimnah, and Nahalal.
36 Of the tribe of Ruben beyond the Jordan over against Jericho, Bosor in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Miser and Jaser and Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs.
From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,
37 Of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad, one of the cities of refuge, and Manaim and Hesebon and Jaser, four cities with their suburbs.
Kedemoth, and Mephaath.
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,
Heshbon, and Jazer.
40 All the cities of the children of Merari by their families and kindreds, were twelve.
Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.
41 So all the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight,
So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,
42 With their suburbs, each distributed by the families.
and each city had surrounding pastureland.
43 And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn to give to their fathers: and they possessed it and dwelt 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 he gave them peace from all nations round about: and none of their enemies durst stand against them, but were brought under their dominion.
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 so much as one word, which he had promised to perform unto them, was made void, but all came to pass.
Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.
