< 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,
While Eleazar the Supreme Priest and Joshua and the leaders of all the Israeli tribes were at Shiloh, the leaders of the clans of the tribe of Levi went to them and said, “Yahweh commanded Moses that you should give us towns where we can have pasture/fields/grassland for our animals, [but you have not done these things yet].”
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.”
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 the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.
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,
[First] they allotted some cities to the Kohath clans, who belonged to the tribe of Levi. To those who were descendants of the first Supreme Priest Aaron, they allotted 13 towns in the areas that had been allotted to 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.
To the other members of the Kohath clan they allotted ten cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh [that lives on the west side of the Jordan River].
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 people from the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lives on the east side of the Jordan [River].
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 people from the Merari clans were allotted twelve cities in the areas that had been allotted to 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 Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.
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;
These are the names of the cities and surrounding pasturelands that were allotted to them, that were in the areas where the tribes of Judah and Simeon lived.
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;
First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.
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 allotted to them Kiriath-Arba (which is [now named] Hebron), in the hilly area of Judah. Arba received its name because Arba was the ancestor of [the giants of] the Anak people-group.
12 and they have given the field of the city and its villages to Caleb son of Jephunneh for his possession.
But the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.
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 allotted to them Hebron, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected. They also allotted to the Kohath clan the cities of 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. Altogether they were allotted those nine cities which were located in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah and Simeon.
17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and its outskirts, Geba and its outskirts,
The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,
18 Anathoth and its outskirts, and Almon and its outskirts—four cities;
Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.
19 all the cities of the sons of Aaron the priests, [are] thirteen cities and their outskirts.
Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from 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 other members the Kohath clan were allotted four cities and the surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to 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,
Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), 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,
They were also allotted four cities and surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Dan. Those cities were 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;
They were also allotted two towns and surrounding pastureland that had been allotted to [the] part of the tribe of Manasseh [that lived on the west side of the Jordan River]. Those cities were Taanach and Gath-Rimmon.
26 all the cities [are] ten and their outskirts, for the families of the sons of Kohath who are left.
Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.
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.
They also allotted towns and the surrounding pastureland to the Gershon clans. Those clans were also descended from Levi. They were allotted two cities from the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Manasseh [that is on the east side of the Jordan River]. Those cities were Golan in the Bashan region, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, and Be-Eshtarah.
28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon and its outskirts, Dabarath and its outskirts,
From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were 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 area that had been allotted to the tribe of Asher they were allotted four cities. Those cities were 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 area that had been allotted to the tribe of Naphtali they were allotted three cities. Those cities were Kedesh in the Galilee region (it was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan.
33 all the cities of the Gershonite, for their families, [are] thirteen cities and their outskirts.
So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.
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 other descendants of Levi, the ones who belonged to the Merari clans, were also allotted towns and their surrounding pasturelands. From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Zebulun they were allotted four cities. They were 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 area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were 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 area that had been allotted to the tribe of Gad they were allotted four cities. They were Ramoth, which was one of the cities in the Gilead region to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, 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.
Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari 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.
So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,
42 These cities are each city and its outskirts around it; so to all these cities.
and each city had surrounding pastureland.
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;
In that way Yahweh allotted to the Israeli people all the land that he had promised to give to their/our ancestors. The Israeli people took control of [most of] those areas and started to live 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;
Just like he had promised our ancestors, Yahweh allowed them/us to have peace with the enemies that surrounded them/us. Yahweh enabled the Israelis/us to defeat their/our enemies.
45 there has not fallen a thing of all the good thing which YHWH spoke to the house of Israel—the whole has come.
Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.