Joshua 21
1 While Eleazar the Supreme Priest and Joshua and the leaders of all the Israeli tribes were at Shiloh, the leaders of the clans of the tribe of Levi went to them and said, “Yahweh commanded Moses that you should give us towns where we can have pasture/fields/grassland for our animals, [but you have not done these things yet].”
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.
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 So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.
And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs from their possessions, in accord with the order of the Lord.
4 [First] they allotted some cities to the Kohath clans, who belonged to the tribe of Levi. To those who were descendants of the first Supreme Priest Aaron, they allotted 13 towns in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
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 To the other members of the Kohath clan they allotted ten cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh [that lives on the west side of the Jordan River].
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 The people from the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the part of the tribe of Manasseh that lives on the east side of the Jordan [River].
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 people from the Merari clans were allotted twelve cities in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
And to the sons of Merari, by their families, from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun, there went twelve cities.
8 So the Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.
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 These are the names of the cities and surrounding pasturelands that were allotted to them, that were in the areas where the tribes of Judah and Simeon lived.
From the tribes of the sons of Judah and Simeon, Joshua gave cities, whose names are these:
10 First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.
to the sons of Aaron, of the families of Kohath of the stock of Levi, (for the first lot went out for them, )
11 They allotted to them Kiriath-Arba (which is [now named] Hebron), in the hilly area of Judah. Arba received its name because Arba was the ancestor of [the giants of] the Anak people-group.
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 and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.
Yet truly, the fields and its villages he had given to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as a possession.
13 They allotted to them Hebron, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected. They also allotted to the Kohath clan the cities of Libnah,
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 Jattir, Eshtemoa,
and Jattir, and Eshtemoa,
15 Holon, Debir,
and Holon, and Debir,
16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-Shemesh. Altogether they were allotted those nine cities which were located in the areas that had been allotted to the tribes of Judah and Simeon.
and Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their suburbs: nine cities from two tribes, just as has been said.
17 The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,
Then, from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, he gave Gibeon, and Geba,
18 Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.
and Anathoth, and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.
19 Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.
All the cities together of the sons of Aaron, the priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.
20 The other members the Kohath clan were allotted four cities and the surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to 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 Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,
from the tribe of Ephraim, Shechem, one of the cities of refuge, with its suburbs, on mount Ephraim, and Gezer,
22 Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon.
and Kibzaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities;
23 They were also allotted four cities and surrounding pastureland in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Dan. Those cities were Eltekeh, Gibbethon,
and from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon,
24 Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.
and Aijalon and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, four cities;
25 They were also allotted two towns and surrounding pastureland that had been allotted to [the] part of the tribe of Manasseh [that lived on the west side of the Jordan River]. Those cities were Taanach and Gath-Rimmon.
then, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, two cities.
26 Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.
All the cities were ten, with their suburbs; these were given to the sons of Kohath, of the lesser degree.
27 They also allotted towns and the surrounding pastureland to the Gershon clans. Those clans were also descended from Levi. They were allotted two cities from the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Manasseh [that is on the east side of the Jordan River]. Those cities were Golan in the Bashan region, which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, and Be-Eshtarah.
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 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath,
also, from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, and Daberath,
29 Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.
and Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities;
30 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Asher they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Mishal, Abdon,
then, from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon,
31 Helkath, and Rehob.
and Helkath and Rehob, with their suburbs, four cities;
32 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Naphtali they were allotted three cities. Those cities were Kedesh in the Galilee region (it was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan.
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 So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.
All the cities of the families of Gershon were thirteen, with their suburbs.
34 The other descendants of Levi, the ones who belonged to the Merari clans, were also allotted towns and their surrounding pasturelands. From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Zebulun they were allotted four cities. They were Jokneam, Kartah,
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, and Nahalal.
and Dimnah and Nahalal, four cities with their suburbs;
36 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,
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, and Mephaath.
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 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Gad they were allotted four cities. They were Ramoth, which was one of the cities in the Gilead region to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected, Mahanaim,
39 Heshbon, and Jazer.
40 Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.
All the cities of the sons of Merari, by their families and extended families, were twelve.
41 So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,
And so all the cities of the Levites, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel, were forty-eight,
42 and each city had surrounding pastureland.
with their suburbs, each distributed by families.
43 In that way Yahweh allotted to the Israeli people all the land that he had promised to give to their/our ancestors. The Israeli people took control of [most of] those areas and started to live there.
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 Just like he had promised our ancestors, Yahweh allowed them/us to have peace with the enemies that surrounded them/us. Yahweh enabled the Israelis/us to defeat their/our enemies.
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 Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.
Indeed, not so much as one word that he had promised to provide for them was left empty; instead, everything was fulfilled.
