Joshua 18

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

Then the whole assembly of the people of Israel met together at Shiloh. They set up the tent of meeting there and they conquered the land before them.

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

There were still seven tribes among the people of Israel whose inheritance had not been assigned.

3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long will ye show yourselves slack to go to take possession of the land, which the Lord the God of your fathers hath given to you!

Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going into the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

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

Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They will set out and survey the land up and down. They will write out a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then they will come back to me.

5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall remain on his boundary at the south, and the house of Joseph shall remain on their boundary at the north.

They will divide it into seven sections. Judah will remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph will continue in their territory in the north.

6 But you shall make a description of the land in seven parts, and bring it hither to me; and I will cast the lot for you here, before the Lord our God.

You will describe the land in seven sections and bring the description here to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.

7 For to the Levites there is no portion among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance; and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Menasseh have already received their inheritance beyond the Jordan, at the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave to them.

The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance, beyond Jordan. This is the inheritance that Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”

8 And the men arose, and went away; and Joshua charged those that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and return again to me; and here will I cast the lot for you before the Lord, in Shiloh.

So the men got up and went. Joshua commanded those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description of it and return to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh at Shiloh.”

9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described it according to the cities in seven parts in a book; and they came again to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.

The men left and walked up and down in the land and wrote a description of it in a scroll by its cities in seven sections, listing the cities in each section. Then they returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.

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

Then Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh before Yahweh. It was there that Joshua assigned the land to the people of Israel, and to each was given his portion of the land.

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

The assignment of land for the tribe of Benjamin clan by clan. The territory of their assigned land was located between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph.

12 And their boundary was on the north side [starting] from the Jordan; and the boundary went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the mountains westward; and its terminations were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

On the north side, their border began at the Jordan. The border went up to the ridge north of Jericho, and then up through the hill country westward. There it reached the wilderness of Beth Aven.

13 And the boundary went over from there toward Luz, to the south side of Luz, which is Beth-el; and the boundary descended to 'Atroth-addar, upon the mount that is on the south side of the lower Beth-choron.

From there the border passed along south in the direction of Luz (the same place as Bethel). Then the border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies south of Beth Horon.

14 And the border extended [thence], and fetched a compass to the west side, to the south of the mount that is before Beth-choron at the south; and its terminations were at Kiryath-ba'al, which is Kiryath-ye'arim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west side.

The boundary then went in another direction: On the western side it turned toward the south, heading toward the mountain across from Beth Horon. This boundary ended at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city that belonged to the tribe of Judah. This formed the border on the western side.

15 And the south side commenced from the end of Kiryath-ye'arim, and the boundary went out on the west, and went out to the spring of the waters of Nephtoach:

The south side began just outside of Kiriath Jearim. The border went from there to Ephron, to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

16 And the boundary went down to the end of the mountain that is before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of Rephaim at the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusi on the south, and descended to 'Enrogel,

The boundary then went down to the border of the mountain which was opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which was at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. It then went down to the Valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and continued down to En Rogel.

17 And extended northwardly, and went forth to 'En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is opposite to the ascent of Adummim, and descended to Eben-bohan the son of Reuben,

It turned northward, going in the direction of En Shemesh, and from there it went out to Geliloth, which was opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

18 And passed along on this side opposite to 'Arabah northward; and went down unto 'Arabah;

It passed on to the north of the shoulder of Beth Arabah and down to the Arabah.

19 And the boundary passed along to the side of Beth-choglah northward; and the terminations of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea at the south end of the Jordan: this was the south boundary.

The border passed on to the north shoulder of Beth Hoglah. The border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the boundary on the south.

20 And the Jordan bounded it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by its boundaries round about, according to their families.

The Jordan formed its border on the eastern side. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, and it was given clan by clan, border after border, all around.

21 Now these were the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families, Jericho, and Beth-choglah, and 'Emekkeziz,

Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, had these cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,

22 And Beth-ha'arabah, and Zemarayim, and Beth-el,

Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 And Avvim, and Parah, and 'Ophrah,

Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 And Kephar-ha'ammonah, and 'Ophni, and Geba': twelve cities with their villages.

Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. There were twelve cities, including their villages.

25 Gib'on, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

There were also the cities of Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26 And Mizpeh, and Kephirah, and Mozah,

Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,

27 And Rekem, and Yirpeel, and Taralah,

Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 And Zela', Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gib'ath, and Kiryath: fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (the same as Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. There were fourteen cities, including their villages. This was the inheritance of Benjamin for their clans.