Joshua 18

1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.

The land had been subdued and lay before them. The Israelites gathered together at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting.

2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.

However, seven of the Israelite tribes had not received their land allocations.

3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel: 'How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, hath given you?

So Joshua asked the Israelites, “How long will you go on being reluctant to go and take possession of the land that the Lord gave your forefathers?

4 Appoint for you three men for each tribe; and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come unto me.

Choose three men from each tribe and I will send them out to explore the land. Then they can write a description regarding the land allocations and bring it to me.

5 And they shall divide it into seven portions: Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north.

They are to divide the land into seven parts, up to the boundary of Judah's land in the south and Joseph's land 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 the LORD our God.

Once you have written the description the land, dividing it in seven parts, you will bring it to me here and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord our God.

7 For the Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance; and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.'

But the Levites do not receive a share, for their role as priests of the Lord is their allocation. Also, Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their allocation that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave them on the east side of the Jordan.”

8 And the men arose, and went; and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying: 'Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.'

As the men started out on their way to explore the land. Joshua told them, “Go throughout the land and write a description of what you find. Then return to me and I will cast lots for you in the presence of the Lord here in Shiloh.”

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 unto the camp at Shiloh.

So the men went and explored the land and wrote down on a scroll a description of the seven parts, recording the towns in each part. Then they returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh

10 And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD; and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.

where Joshua cast lots for them in the presence of the Lord. There Joshua divided the land up and allotted the different parts to the remaining Israelite tribes.

11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families; and the border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.

The first lot cast went to the tribe of Benjamin, by families. The land allotted lay between that of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of 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 through the hill-country westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

Their boundary began at the Jordan, and went north of the slope of Jericho, west through the hill country, coming out at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

13 And the border passed along from thence to Luz, to the side of Luz — the same is Beth-el — southward; and the border went down to Atroth-addar, by the mountain that lieth on the south of Beth-horon the nether.

Then the boundary went south to Luz (or Bethel) and on down to Ataroth-addar on the mountain south of Lower Beth-horon.

14 And the border was drawn and turned about on the west side southward, from the mountain that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kiriath-baal — the same is Kiriath-jearim — a city of the children of Judah; this was the west side.

Here the boundary turned south along the western side of the mountain facing Beth-horon, finishing at Kiriath-baal (or Kiriath-jearim), a town of the tribe of Judah. This was the western boundary.

15 And the south side was from the uttermost part of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah.

The southern boundary began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim. It ran to the spring at Nephtoah,

16 And the border went down to the uttermost part of the mountain that lieth before the Valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the vale of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the Valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel.

and then down to the foot of the mountain that faces the valley of Ben-hinnom, at the north end of the valley of Rephaim. Then it went down the valley of Hinnom, along the slope near the Jebusite town, south towards En-rogel.

17 And it was drawn on the north, and went out at En-shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim; and it went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

From there it headed north to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, opposite the heights of Adummim, and then on down to the Stone of Bohan (Reuben's son).

18 And it passed along to the side over against the Arabah northward, and went down unto the Arabah.

Then it went along the ridge opposite the Jordan Valley to the north, and then down into the Jordan Valley itself.

19 And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the goings out of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan; this was the south border.

From there it ran along the north slope of Beth-hoglah, ending at the north bay of the Salt Sea, the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern boundary.

20 And the Jordan was to be the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders thereof round about, according to their families.

The eastern boundary was the Jordan. These were the boundaries around the land of the tribe of Benjamin, by families.

21 Now 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 towns of the tribe of Benjamin, according to families: Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz,

22 and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el;

Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah;

Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 and Chephar-ammonah, and Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages:

Kephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their associated villages.

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth;

In addition: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26 and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah;

Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,

27 and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah;

Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 and Zela, Eleph, and the Jebusite — the same is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (or Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath-jearim—fourteen towns with their associated villages. This was the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin, by families.