Joshua 18
1 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there: and the land was subdued before them.
The Israeli people captured all the land [that they were able to], but there were still seven tribes that had not been allotted any land. The Israeli people all gathered at Shiloh, and they set up the Sacred Tent there.
2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided their inheritance.
3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, hath given you?
Joshua said to them, “Why are you waiting a long time to take control of [the rest of] the land that Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors [worshiped], has promised to give to you [RHQ]?
4 Appoint for you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come unto me.
Choose three men from each of your seven tribes. Then I will send them to explore [the parts of] the land [which you have not occupied yet. When they finish exploring it], they must write a report, in which they will (make a map/show the boundaries) of the land that each tribe wants to receive.
5 And they shall divide it into seven portions: Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north.
They will divide the remaining land into seven parts. The tribe of Judah will keep its land in the south, and the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will keep their land in the north.
6 And ye shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring [the description] hither to me: and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
But in their report, the men from the seven tribes should describe the seven parts of the remaining land [that they wish to receive], and bring the report to me. While Yahweh is watching, I will (cast lots/throw marked stones) [to decide which land should be allotted to each tribe].
7 For the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.
But the tribe of Levi will not be allotted any land, because their [reward is that they will be] Yahweh’s priests. The tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already been allotted their land on the east side of the Jordan [River], just as Moses, the man who served God [well], decided, [so they will not get any more land].”
8 And the men arose, and went: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.
When the men who were chosen [got ready to] leave, Joshua told them, “Go and explore the land. Then write a report of what you have seen, and bring it back to me. Then while Yahweh is watching, I will (cast lots/throw marked stones) here at Shiloh, [to determine what area each tribe will receive].”
9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions in a book, and they came to Joshua unto the camp at Shiloh.
So the men left and walked through the area. Then they described in a scroll each town that was in the seven parts [into which they had divided] the land. Then they returned to Joshua, who was still at Shiloh.
10 And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
[After Joshua read their report], while Yahweh was watching, he (cast lots/threw marked stones) to choose which land would be allotted to each of the seven Israeli tribes.
11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.
The first tribe that was allotted land was the tribe of Benjamin. Each clan in that tribe was allotted some of the land that was between the area that was allotted to the tribe of Judah and the area that was allotted to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.
12 And their border on the north quarter was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.
The northern border started at the Jordan [River] and extended west along the northern side of Jericho, into the hilly area. From there the border extended west to the desert near Beth-Aven [town].
13 And the border passed along from thence to Luz, to the side of Luz (the same is Beth-el), southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain that lieth on the south of Beth-horon the nether.
From there it extended southwest to Luz (which is [now named] Bethel). From there it extended southwest to Ataroth-Addar [town], which is on the hill south of Lower Beth-Horon [city].
14 And the border was drawn and turned about on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal (the same is Kiriath-jearim), a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.
At the hill south of Beth-Horon, the border turned and extended south to Kiriath-Baal [town], which is [also named] Kiriath-Jearim. That is a town where people of the tribe of Judah live. That was the western border of the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.
15 And the south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah:
The southern border of their land started near Kiriath-Jearim and extended west to Nephtoah Springs.
16 and the border went down to the uttermost part of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the vale of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel;
From there it extended south to the bottom of the hill, near Ben-Hinnom Valley, on the north side of Repha Valley. The border extended south along the Hinnom Valley, south of the city where the Jebus people-group lived, to En-Rogel.
17 and it was drawn on the north, and went out at En-shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim; and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben;
From there the border extended west to En-Shemesh, and continued to Geliloth near Adummim Pass. Then it extended to the great stone of Reuben’s son Bohan.
18 and it passed along to the side over against the Arabah northward, and went down unto the Arabah:
From there the border extended to the northern edge of Beth-Arabah [town] and down into the Jordan [River] Valley.
19 and the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward: and the goings out of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of Jordan: this was the south border.
From there it extended east to the northern edge of Beth-Hoglah [town] and ended at the north end of the Dead Sea, where the Jordan [River flows into the Dead Sea]. That was the southern boundary [of the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin].
20 And Jordan was the border of it on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders thereof round about, according to their families.
The Jordan [River] was the eastern boundary of the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. Those were the boundaries of the land allotted to them.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz;
The cities in the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin were Jericho, Beth-Hoglah, Emek-Keziz,
22 and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el;
Beth-Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,
23 and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah;
Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
24 and Chephar-ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages:
Kephar-Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. Altogether there were fourteen towns and the surrounding villages.
25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth;
The tribe of Benjamin also had the towns of Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,
26 and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah;
Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,
27 and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah;
Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,
28 and Zelah, Eleph, and the Jebusite (the same is Jerusalem), Gibeath, [and] Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
Zelah, Haeleph, the city where the Jebus people-group lived (which is [now named] Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. Altogether there were 14 towns and the surrounding villages. All that area was allotted to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.
