Joshua 21

1 Then came near the heads of fathers’ [houses] of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers’ [houses] of the tribes of the children of Israel;

And the leaders of the families of Levi approached Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the rulers of the extended families of each of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

2 and they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.

And they spoke to them at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, and they said, “The Lord instructed, by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given to us as habitations, with their suburbs to nourish our cattle.”

3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of the LORD, these cities with their suburbs.

And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs from their possessions, in accord with the order of the Lord.

4 And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

And the lot went out for the family of Kohath, of the sons of Aaron, the priest, from the tribes of Judah and Simeon and Benjamin: thirteen cities.

5 And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot 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.

And to the remainder of the sons of Kohath, that is, to the Levites who were left over, there went, from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

6 And the children of Gershon had by lot 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, thirteen cities.

And next the lot went out to the sons of Gershon, so that they would receive, from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh at Bashan: the number of thirteen cities.

7 The children of Merari according to their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

And to the sons of Merari, by their families, from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun, there went twelve cities.

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

And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs to the Levites, just as the Lord instructed by the hand of Moses, distributing to each by lot.

9 And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are [here] mentioned by name:

From the tribes of the sons of Judah and Simeon, Joshua gave cities, whose names are these:

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

to the sons of Aaron, of the families of Kohath of the stock of Levi, (for the first lot went out for them, )

11 And they gave them Kiriath-arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak, (the same is Hebron, ) in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.

the city of Arba, the father of Anak, which is called Hebron, on the mountain of Judah, and its surrounding suburbs.

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

Yet truly, the fields and its villages he had given to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as a possession.

13 And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with her suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with her suburbs;

Therefore, he gave to the sons of Aaron the priest, Hebron as a city of refuge, as well as its suburbs, and Libnah, with its suburbs,

14 and Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs;

and Jattir, and Eshtemoa,

15 and Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs;

and Holon, and Debir,

16 and Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, [and] Beth-shemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.

and Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their suburbs: nine cities from two tribes, just as has been said.

17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs;

Then, from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, he gave Gibeon, and Geba,

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

and Anathoth, and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.

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

All the cities together of the sons of Aaron, the priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.

20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.

Yet truly, the remainder of the families of the sons of Kohath, of the stock of Levi, were given this possession:

21 And they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with her suburbs;

from the tribe of Ephraim, Shechem, one of the cities of refuge, with its suburbs, on mount Ephraim, and Gezer,

22 and Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Beth-horon with her suburbs; four cities.

and Kibzaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities;

23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs;

and from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon,

24 Aijalon with her suburbs, Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; four cities.

and Aijalon and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, four cities;

25 And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with her suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with her suburbs; two cities.

then, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, two cities.

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

All the cities were ten, with their suburbs; these were given to the sons of Kohath, of the lesser degree.

27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half tribe of Manasseh [they gave] Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer; and Be-eshterah with her suburbs; two cities.

Likewise, to the sons of Gershon, of the stock of Levi, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, went Golan in Bashan, one of the cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their suburbs, two cities;

28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with her suburbs, Daberath with her suburbs;

also, from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, and Daberath,

29 Jarmuth with her suburbs, Engannin with her suburbs; four cities.

and Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities;

30 And out of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs;

then, from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon,

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

and Helkath and Rehob, with their suburbs, four cities;

32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities.

likewise, from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge, and Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan, with their suburbs, three cities.

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

All the cities of the families of Gershon were thirteen, with their suburbs.

34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs,

Then, to the sons of Merari, Levites of the lesser degree, by their families, were given, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah,

35 Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities.

and Dimnah and Nahalal, four cities with their suburbs;

36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahaz with her suburbs,

from the tribe of Reuben, beyond the Jordan, opposite Jericho, Bezer in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Misor and Jazer, and Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs;

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

from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth of Gilead, one of the cities of refuge, and Mahanaim and Heshbon and Jazer, four cities with their suburbs.

38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with her suburbs;

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

40 All [these were] the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

All the cities of the sons of Merari, by their families and extended families, were twelve.

41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.

And so all the cities of the Levites, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel, were forty-eight,

42 These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus it was with all these cities.

with their suburbs, each distributed by families.

43 So the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.

And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn he would deliver to their fathers. And they possessed it, and they lived in it.

44 And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

And he gave them peace with all the surrounding nations. And none of their enemies dared to stand against them; instead, they were brought under their sovereignty.

45 There failed not aught of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

Indeed, not so much as one word that he had promised to provide for them was left empty; instead, everything was fulfilled.