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,

The leaders of the tribe of Levi approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the Israelite tribes.

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.”

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.”

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, following the Lord's instructions, the Israelites gave towns and pastures to the Levites from their own allocations.

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 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.

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 families of the descendants of Kothah were allotted ten towns 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 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.

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.

The families of the descendants of Merari were allotted twelve towns 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 gave the Levites by lot these towns and pastures, as the Lord had instructed 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;

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

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 families of the Kothaites, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, since 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;

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

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

But the more distant fields from the town and the villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh to own.

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,

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,

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 towns from these two tribes.

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

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

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

Anathoth, and Almon.

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

So in total thirteen towns and their pastures 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;

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:

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,

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

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

Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

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

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

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

Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

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

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

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

Helkath, and Rehob.

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;

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.

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

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

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,

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,

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

Dimnah, and Nahalal.

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

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

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

Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

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,

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,

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

Heshbon, and Jazer.

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.

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

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.

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

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

Each of these towns had pastures around them.

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;

And so the Lord gave to the Israelites all the land he had promised their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled there.

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;

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.

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 a single one of the good things the Lord promised Israel had failed; everything had come true.