Joshua 21

1 The leaders of the tribe of Levi approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the Israelite tribes.

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;

2 They spoke to them at Shiloh in Canaan, saying, “The Lord gave instructions through Moses to give us towns to live in, and pastures for our flocks.”

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.

3 So, following the Lord's instructions, the Israelites gave towns and pastures to the Levites from their own allocations.

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.

4 The lot was cast for the families of the Kothaites. These Levites, descendants of Aaron, were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

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.

5 The remaining families of the descendants of Kothah were allotted ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

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.

6 The families of the descendants of Gershon were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh living in Bashan.

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.

7 The families of the descendants of Merari were allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

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

8 So the Israelites gave the Levites by lot these towns and pastures, as the Lord had instructed through Moses.

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.

9 They gave from the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon the following towns, specifically named,

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

10 to the families of the Kothaites, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, since the first lot fell to them:

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.

11 Kiriath-arba (or Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, together with the pastures around it. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

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.

12 But the more distant fields from the town and the villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh to own.

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

13 They gave to the descendants of Aaron the priest the following towns and their pastures: Hebron (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Libnah,

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;

14 Jattir, Eshtemoa,

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

15 Holon, Debir,

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

16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.

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

17 From the tribe of Benjamin the following four towns and their pastures: Gibeon, Geba,

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

18 Anathoth, and Almon.

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

19 So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

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

20 As for the remaining families of the children of Kothah from the tribe of Levi, they were given by lot four towns and their pastures from the tribe of Ephraim:

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

21 Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Gezer,

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;

22 Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

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

23 From the tribe of Dan, the following four towns and their pastures: Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

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

24 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

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

25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh the following two towns and their pastures: Taanach and Gath-rimmon.

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

26 So in total ten towns and their pastures were given to remaining families of the descendants of Kothah.

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

27 The families of the descendants of Gershon from the tribe of Levi received the following two towns and their pastures from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), and Be-eshterah.

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.

28 From the tribe of Issachar the following four towns and their pastures: Kishion, Daberath,

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

29 Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

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

30 From the tribe of Asher the following four towns and their pastures: Mishal, Abdon,

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

31 Helkath, and Rehob.

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

32 From the tribe of Naphtali the following three towns and their pastures: Kedesh in Galilee (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan.

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.

33 So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were allotted to the families of Gershon.

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

34 The families of the descendants of Merari, those remaining from the tribe of Levi, received the following four towns and their pastures from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam, Kartah,

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;

35 Dimnah, and Nahalal.

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

36 From the tribe of Reuben the following four towns and their pastures: Bezer, Jahaz,

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

37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

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

38 From the tribe of Gad the following four towns and their pastures: Ramoth in Gilead (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Mahanaim,

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;

39 Heshbon, and Jazer.

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

40 So in total twelve towns were allotted to the families of Merari, those remaining from the tribe of Levi.

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.

41 The Levites received a total of forty-eight towns and pastures within the land of the Israelites.

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

42 Each of these towns had pastures around them.

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

43 And so the Lord gave to the Israelites all the land he had promised their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled there.

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.

44 The Lord gave them peace on every side as he had promised their ancestors. Not a single one of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord had handed their enemies over to them to defeat.

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.

45 Not a single one of the good things the Lord promised Israel had failed; everything had come true.

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.