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 came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers 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 they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common 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 gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their common lands.

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 lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

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.

And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

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.

And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

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 had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

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

And the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their common lands, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.

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

And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name,

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

Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.

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

And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its common lands around it.

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 of the city, and its villages, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

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,

Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with its common lands, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with its common lands,

14 Jattir, Eshtemoa,

And Jattir with its common lands, and Eshtemoa with its common lands,

15 Holon, Debir,

And Holon with its common lands, and Debir with its common lands,

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

And Ain with its common lands, and Juttah with its common lands, and Bethshemesh with its common lands; nine cities out of those two tribes.

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

And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its common lands, Geba with its common lands,

18 Anathoth, and Almon.

Anathoth with its common lands, and Almon with its common lands; four cities.

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

All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common lands.

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:

And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites who remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.

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

For they gave them Shechem with its common lands in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with its common lands,

22 Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

And Kibzaim with its common lands, and Bethhoron with its common lands; four cities.

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

And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common lands, Gibbethon with its common lands,

24 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

Aijalon with its common lands, Gathrimmon with its common lands; four cities.

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

And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common lands, and Gathrimmon with its common lands; two cities.

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

All the cities were ten with their common lands for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.

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, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with its common lands, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with its common lands; two cities.

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

And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with its common lands, Dabareh with its common lands,

29 Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

Jarmuth with its common lands, Engannim with its common lands; four cities.

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

And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common lands, Abdon with its common lands,

31 Helkath, and Rehob.

Helkath with its common lands, and Rehob with its common lands; four cities.

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 out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its common lands, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammothdor with its common lands, and Kartan with its common lands; three cities.

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

All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common 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 families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common lands, and Kartah with its common lands,

35 Dimnah, and Nahalal.

Dimnah with its common lands, Nahalal with its common lands; four cities.

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

And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its common lands, and Jahazah with its common lands,

37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

Kedemoth with its common lands, and Mephaath with its common lands; four cities.

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 out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its common lands, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with its common lands,

39 Heshbon, and Jazer.

Heshbon with its common lands, Jazer with its common lands; four cities in all.

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

So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

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

All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their common lands.

42 Each of these towns had pastures around them.

These cities were every one with their common lands surrounding them: thus were all these cities.

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.

And the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt in it.

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 rest on all sides, according to all that he swore to their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

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

There failed nothing of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.