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.

Then the tribal leaders of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the leaders of the families of their ancestors within the people 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."

They said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “Yahweh commanded you by the hand of Moses to give to us cities to live in, with the 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 Yahweh, the people of Israel gave out of their inheritance the following cities, including their pasturelands, to the Levites.

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 casting of lots for the clans of the Kohathites gave this result: The priests—the descendants of Aaron who were from the Levites—received thirteen cities given from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeon, and from the tribe of 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 rest of the Kohathites were allotted ten cities from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and from 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.

Then the people descended from Gershon were given, by the casting of lots, thirteen cities from the clans of 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.

The people who were descendants of Merari, clan by clan, 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 people of Israel gave, by casting lots, these cities (including their pasturelands) to the Levites, just as Yahweh had commanded by the hand of 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 assigned land to the following cities, here listed 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.

These cities were given to the descendants of Aaron, who were among the clans of the Kohathites, who in turn were from the tribe of Levi. For the first casting of lots had fallen 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.

The Israelites gave them Kiriath Arba (Arba had been the father of Anak), the same place as Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the pasturelands around it.

12 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

But the fields of the city, including their villages, were already given 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,

To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasturelands—which was a city of refuge for any who killed another unintentionally—and Libnah with its pasturelands,

14 Jattir with its suburbs, Eshtemoa with its suburbs,

Jattir with its pasturelands, and Eshtemoa with its pasturelands.

15 Holon with its suburbs, Debir with its suburbs,

They also gave Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,

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

Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasturelands. There were nine cities that were given from these two tribes.

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

From the tribe of Benjamin were given Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,

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

Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its suburbs—four cities.

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

The cities given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were thirteen cities in all, including their pasturelands.

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 rest of Kohathites who belong to the Kohathite clans of the Levites—they had cities given to them from the tribe of Ephraim by the casting of lots.

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,

To them were given Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim—a city of refuge for any who killed a person unintentionally—Gezer with its pasturelands,

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

Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth Horon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

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

From the tribe of Dan, the clan of Kohath was given Eltekeh with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,

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

Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

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 clan of Kohath was given Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities.

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

There were ten cities in all for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites, including their pasturelands.

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.

From the half tribe of Manasseh, to clans of Gershon, these were other Levite clans, and they gave Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands—a city of refuge for anyone who killed another unintentionally, along with Be Eshterah with its pasturelands—two cities in all.

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

To the clans of Gershon they also gave Kishion from the tribe of Issachar, along with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,

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

Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En Gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.

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

From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,

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

Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

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, they gave the clans of Gershon Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands—a city of refuge for anyone who killed another unintentionally; Hammoth Dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities in all.

33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

There were thirteen cities in all, out of the clans of Gershon, including their pasturelands.

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,

To the rest of the Levites—the clans of Merari—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,

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

Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

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,

To the clans of Merari were given from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands,

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

Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.

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,

Out of the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands—a city of refuge for any who killed another unintentionally—and Mahanaim with its pasturelands.

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

The clans of Merari were also given Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands. These were four cities in all.

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.

All these were the cities of the several clans of Merari, who were from the tribe of Levi—twelve cities in all were given to them by the casting of lots.

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 cities of the Levites taken from the middle of the land possessed by the people of Israel were forty-eight cities, including their pasturelands.

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

These cities each had its surrounding pasturelands. It was this way with all these 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.

So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their ancestors. The Israelites took possession of it and settled there.

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.

Then Yahweh gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies could defeat them. Yahweh gave 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 thing among all the good promises that Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel failed to come true. All of them came to be.