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.

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 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.”

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

So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.

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.

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

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

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

So the Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.

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

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

First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.

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

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

But the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.

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,

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 Jattir, Eshtemoa,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 Holon, Debir,

Holon, Debir,

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

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

The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,

18 Anathoth, and Almon.

Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.

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

Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.

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

Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,

22 Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon.

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

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 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.

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

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

Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.

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.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath,

29 Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Asher they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Mishal, Abdon,

31 Helkath, and Rehob.

Helkath, and Rehob.

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.

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

So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.

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,

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 Dimnah, and Nahalal.

Dimnah, and Nahalal.

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

From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,

37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

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,

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,

39 Heshbon, and Jazer.

Heshbon, and Jazer.

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

Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.

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

So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,

42 Each of these towns had pastures around them.

and each city had surrounding pastureland.

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.

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 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.

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 a single one of the good things the Lord promised Israel had failed; everything had come true.

Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.