Joshua 21

1 Then came near the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers' houses of the tribes of the children of Israel;

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 and they spoke unto 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 the open land thereabout for our cattle.'

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 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of the LORD, these cities with the open land about them.

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 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 the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

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 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.

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 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.

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 children of Merari according to 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.

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

8 And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with the open land about them, as the LORD commanded by the hand of 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 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.

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

10 And they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot.

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 And they gave them Kiriath-arba, which Arba was the father of Anak — the same is Hebron — in the hill-country of Judah, with the open land round about it.

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

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

13 And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with the open land about it;

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 and Jattir with the open land about it, and Eshtemoa with the open land about it;

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

15 and Holon with the open land about it, and Debir with the open land about it;

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

16 and Ain with the open land about it, and Juttah with the open land about it, and Beth-shemesh with the open land about it; nine cities out of those two tribes.

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

17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with the open land about it, Geba with the open land about it;

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

18 Anathoth with the open land about it, and Almon with the open land about it; four cities.

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

19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with the open land about them.

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

20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of 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 And they gave them Shechem with the open land about it in the hill-country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with the open land about it;

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 and Kibzaim with the open land about it, and Beth-horon with the open land about it; four cities.

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

23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with the open land about it, Gibbethon with the open land about it;

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

24 Aijalon with the open land about it, Gath-rimmon with the open land about it; four cities.

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

25 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with the open land about it, and Gath-rimmon with the open land about it; two cities.

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

26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with the open land about them.

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

27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer; and Beeshterah with the open land about it; two cities.

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 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with the open land about it, Dobrath with the open land about it;

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

29 Jarmuth with the open land about it, En-gannim with the open land about it; four cities.

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

30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with the open land about it, Abdon with the open land about it;

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

31 Helkath with the open land about it, and Rehob with the open land about it; four cities.

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

32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with the open land about it, and Kartan with the open land about it; three cities.

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 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with the open land about them.

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

34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with the open land about it, and Kartah with the open land about it;

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 with the open land about it, Nahalal with the open land about it; four cities.

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

36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with the open land about it, and Jahaz with the open land about it;

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

37 Kedemoth with the open land about it, and Mephaath with the open land about it; four cities.

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

38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with the open land about it, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with the open land about it;

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 with the open land about it, Jazer with the open land about it; four cities in all.

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

40 All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

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 All the cities of the Levites — forty and eight cities with the open land about them — shall be in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel,

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

42 even these cities, every one with the open land round about it; thus it shall be with all these cities.

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

43 So the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which He swore to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

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 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that He swore unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies against them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

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 There failed not aught of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

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.