Joshua 21

1 Then the heads of ancestral houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of ancestral houses of the tribes of the children 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 They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their suburbs 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 The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of the LORD, these cities with their suburbs.

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

4 The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The descendants of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin.

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 The rest of the descendants of Kohath had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh.

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 The descendants of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

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 The descendants of Merari according to their families had twelve cities by lot out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun.

The families of the descendants of Merari were allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8 The children of Israel gave these cities with their suburbs by lot to the Levites, as the LORD commanded by Moses.

So the Israelites gave the Levites by lot these towns and pastures, as the Lord had instructed through Moses.

9 They gave out of the tribe of the descendants of Judah, and out of the tribe of the descendants of Simeon, these cities which are mentioned by name:

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

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

to the families of the Kothaites, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, since the first lot fell to them:

11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (that is, Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its suburbs 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 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the 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 To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah with its suburbs,

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 Jattir with its suburbs, Eshtemoa with its suburbs,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 Holon with its suburbs, Debir with its suburbs,

Holon, Debir,

16 Ashan with its suburbs, Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth Shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.

17 Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its suburbs, Geba with its suburbs,

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

18 Anathoth with its suburbs, and Almon with its suburbs; four cities.

Anathoth, and Almon.

19 All the cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

20 The families of the descendants of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the descendants of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out 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 They gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs,

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

22 Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth Horon with its suburbs; four cities.

Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

23 Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,

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

24 Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath Rimmon with its suburbs; four cities.

Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

25 Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Beth Shean with its suburbs; two cities.

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

26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the descendants of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.

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

27 They gave to the descendants of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be Eshterah with its suburbs; 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 Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs,

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

29 Jarmuth with its suburbs, En Gannim with its suburbs; four cities.

Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

30 Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs,

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

31 Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities.

Helkath, and Rehob.

32 Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammothdor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; 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 Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

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

34 To the families of the descendants of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, Kartah with its suburbs,

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 Rimmon with its suburbs, and Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities.

Dimnah, and Nahalal.

36 And across the Jordan opposite Jericho, from the tribe of Reuben: a city of refuge for the manslayer, Bezer in the wilderness, on the plateau, with its suburbs, Jahaz with its suburbs,

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

37 Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities.

Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

38 Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs,

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 with its suburbs, Jazer with its suburbs; four cities in all.

Heshbon, and Jazer.

40 All these were the cities of the descendants of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was 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 children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs.

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

42 Each of these cities included their suburbs around them. It was this way with all these cities.

Each of these towns had pastures around them.

43 So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived 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 The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. The LORD delivered all 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 Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Not a single one of the good things the Lord promised Israel had failed; everything had come true.