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.

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 They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "YHWH commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their suburbs 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 The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of YHWH, these cities with their suburbs.

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

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

And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities 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 YHWH commanded by Moses.

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

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

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 descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because 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.

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 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the 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 To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah with its suburbs,

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 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 cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

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

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

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

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

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

In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, 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.

The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: 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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

25 Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Beth Shean with its suburbs; 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 of the families of the rest of the descendants of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.

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

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.

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 Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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 Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

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

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,

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

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

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

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 they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

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

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

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,

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

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

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

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.

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 children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their suburbs.

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

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

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

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

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