Joshua 21

1 And the heads of the fathers of the Levites draw near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel

2 and they speak to them in Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, saying, “YHWH commanded by the hand of Moses to give to us cities to dwell in, and their outskirts for our livestock.”

at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”

3 And the sons of Israel give to the Levites, out of their inheritance, at the command of YHWH, these cities and their outskirts:

So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

4 and the lot goes out for the families of the Kohathite, and there are for the sons of Aaron the priest (of the Levites), out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities by lot,

The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 and for the sons of Kohath who are left, 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 by lot.

The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 And for the sons of Gershon, 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, [are] thirteen cities by lot.

The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7 For the sons of Merari, for their families, out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, [are] twelve cities.

And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8 And the sons of Israel give these cities and their outskirts to the Levites, as YHWH commanded by the hand of Moses, by lot.

So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

9 And they give out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, these cities which are called by name;

From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name

10 and they are for the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathite, of the sons of Levi, for the first lot has been theirs;

to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

11 and they give to them the city of Arba father of Anak (it [is] Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah, and its outskirts around it;

They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

12 and they have given the field of the city and its villages to Caleb son of Jephunneh for his possession.

But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 And to the sons of Aaron the priest they have given the city of refuge [for] the manslayer, Hebron and its outskirts, and Libnah and its outskirts,

So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

14 and Jattir and its outskirts, and Eshtemoa and its outskirts,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 and Holon and its outskirts, and Debir and its outskirts,

Holon, Debir,

16 and Ain and its outskirts, and Juttah and its outskirts, Beth-Shemesh and its outskirts; nine cities out of these two tribes.

Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and its outskirts, Geba and its outskirts,

And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

18 Anathoth and its outskirts, and Almon and its outskirts—four cities;

Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

19 all the cities of the sons of Aaron the priests, [are] thirteen cities and their outskirts.

In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

20 And for the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, who are left of the sons of Kohath, even the cities of their lot are of the tribe of Ephraim;

The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim

21 and they give to them the city of refuge [for] the manslayer, Shechem and its outskirts, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Gezer and its outskirts,

they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

22 and Kibzaim and its outskirts, and Beth-Horon and its outskirts—four cities.

Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its outskirts, Gibbethon and its outskirts,

From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

24 Aijalon and its outskirts, Gath-Rimmon and its outskirts—four cities.

Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

25 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its outskirts, and Gath-Rimmon and its outskirts—two cities;

And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

26 all the cities [are] ten and their outskirts, for the families of the sons of Kohath who are left.

In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

27 And for the sons of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, the city of refuge [for] the manslayer, Golan in Bashan and its outskirts, and Beeshterah and its outskirts—two cities.

This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon and its outskirts, Dabarath and its outskirts,

From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

29 Jarmuth and its outskirts, En-Gannim and its outskirts—four cities.

Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its outskirts, Abdon and its outskirts,

From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

31 Helkath and its outskirts, and Rehob and its outskirts—four cities.

Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge [for] the manslayer, Kedesh in Galilee and its outskirts, and Hammoth-Dor and its outskirts, and Kartan and its outskirts—three cities;

And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

33 all the cities of the Gershonite, for their families, [are] thirteen cities and their outskirts.

In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

34 And for the families of the sons of Merari, the Levites, who are left, [are, ] out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its outskirts, Kartah and its outskirts,

This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

35 Dimnah and its outskirts, Nahalal and its outskirts—four cities.

Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its outskirts, and Jahazah and its outskirts,

From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

37 Kedemoth and its outskirts, and Mephaath and its outskirts—four cities.

Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

38 And out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge [for] the manslayer, Ramoth in Gilead and its outskirts, and Mahanaim and its outskirts,

And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,

39 Heshbon and its outskirts, Jazer and its outskirts—four cities [in] all.

Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

40 All the cities for the sons of Merari, for their families, who are left of the families of the Levites—their lot is twelve cities.

In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel [are] forty-eight cities, and their outskirts.

For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.

42 These cities are each city and its outskirts around it; so to all these cities.

Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

43 And YHWH gives to Israel the whole of the land which He has sworn to give to their fathers, and they possess it, and dwell in it;

Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.

44 and YHWH gives rest to them all around, according to all that which He has sworn to their fathers, and there has not stood a man in their presence of all their enemies, YHWH has given the whole of their enemies into their hand;

And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

45 there has not fallen a thing of all the good thing which YHWH spoke to the house of Israel—the whole has come.

Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.