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].”
Then the chief fathers of the Levites drew near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;
and they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for 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 the children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the word of Jehovah, these cities and their suburbs.
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 came forth for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, 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.
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 the children of Kohath that remained 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.
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 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.
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.
The children of Merari according to their families had by lot out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, 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 the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded through Moses.
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.
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 were mentioned by name,
10 First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.
and which the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi had (for theirs was the first lot);
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.
and they gave them Kirjath-Arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak, that is, Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, with its suburbs round about it.
12 But the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.
But the fields of the city and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his 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,
And they gave to the children of Aaron the priest the city of refuge for the slayer, Hebron and its suburbs; and Libnah and its suburbs,
14 Jattir, Eshtemoa,
and Jattir and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs,
15 Holon, Debir,
and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs,
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 its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, [and] Beth-shemesh and its suburbs: nine cities out of those two tribes;
17 The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,
and out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon and its suburbs, Geba and its suburbs,
18 Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.
Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its suburbs; four cities.
19 Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.
All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities and 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.
And to the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites that remained of the children of Kohath, [they gave cities]. And the cities of their lot were out of the tribe of Ephraim,
21 Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,
and they gave them the city of refuge for the slayer, Shechem and its suburbs in mount Ephraim; and Gezer and its suburbs,
22 Kibzaim, and Beth-Horon.
and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-horon and its 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 out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs,
24 Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.
Ajalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its 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.
and out of half the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs and Gath-Rimmon and its 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 and their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.
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.
And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of half the tribe of Manasseh, [they gave] the city of refuge for the slayer, Golan in Bashan and its suburbs; and Beeshterah and its 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,
and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and its suburbs, Dabrath and its suburbs,
29 Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.
Jarmuth and its suburbs, En-gannim and its 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,
and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its suburbs, Abdon and its suburbs,
31 Helkath, and Rehob.
Helkath and its suburbs, and Rehob and its 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.
and out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge for the slayer, Kedesh in Galilee, and its suburbs; and Hammoth-Dor and its suburbs, and Kartan and its suburbs: three cities.
33 So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.
All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities and 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,
And to the families of the children of Merari, that remained of the Levites, [they gave] out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its suburbs, Kartah and its suburbs,
35 Dimnah, and Nahalal.
Dimnah and its suburbs, Nahalal and its suburbs: four cities;
36 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,
and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its suburbs, and Jahzah and its suburbs,
37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath.
Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath and its suburbs: four cities;
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,
and out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge for the slayer, Ramoth in Gilead and its suburbs; and Mahanaim and its suburbs,
39 Heshbon, and Jazer.
Heshbon and its suburbs, Jaazer and its suburbs: four cities in all.
40 Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.
[These were] all the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, which remained of the families of the Levites, and their lot was twelve cities.
41 So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,
All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities and their suburbs.
42 and each city had surrounding pastureland.
Each one of these cities had its suburbs round about it: thus were all these cities.
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 Jehovah gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give unto their fathers; and they took possession of it, and dwelt 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 Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he had sworn unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them: Jehovah gave all their enemies into their hand.
45 Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.
There failed nothing of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel: all came to pass.
