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 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.
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 So the Israeli leaders obeyed this command from Yahweh. They agreed to give towns and pasturelands to the tribe of Levi.
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 [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.
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 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].
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 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].
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 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 people who were descendants of Merari, clan by clan, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 So the Israeli leaders gave cities and pastureland to the tribe of Levi, just as Yahweh had commanded Moses that they should do.
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 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 Judah and Simeon, they assigned land to the following cities, here listed by name.
10 First, they allotted cities to the members of the Kohath clans.
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 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 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 the fields and villages surrounding Arba had already been allotted to Caleb.
But the fields of the city, including their villages, were already given to Caleb son of Jephunneh, as 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,
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, Eshtemoa,
Jattir with its pasturelands, and Eshtemoa with its pasturelands.
15 Holon, Debir,
They also gave Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,
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.
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 The Kohath clan was also allotted these four cities: Gibeon, Geba,
From the tribe of Benjamin were given Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,
18 Anathoth, and Almon. Those cities were in the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.
Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its suburbs—four cities.
19 Altogether those 13 towns and surrounding pastureland were allotted to the priests who were descended from Aaron.
The cities given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were thirteen cities in all, including their pasturelands.
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.
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 Those cities were Shechem (which was one of the cities to which people could run/escape to be safe/protected), Gezer,
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, and Beth-Horon.
Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth Horon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
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,
From the tribe of Dan, the clan of Kohath was given Eltekeh with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,
24 Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon.
Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
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.
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 Those were the ten cities and surrounding pastureland that were allotted to the other members of the Kohath clan.
There were ten cities in all for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites, including their pasturelands.
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.
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 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Issachar they were allotted four cities. Those cities were Kishion, Daberath,
To the clans of Gershon they also gave Kishion from the tribe of Issachar, along with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,
29 Jarmuth, and En-Gannim.
Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En Gannim with its pasturelands—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,
From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,
31 Helkath, and Rehob.
Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
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.
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 So altogether the Gershon clans were allotted 13 cities and the surrounding pasturelands.
There were thirteen cities in all, out of the clans of Gershon, including their pasturelands.
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,
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 Dimnah, and Nahalal.
Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities in all.
36 From the area that had been allotted to the tribe of Reuben they were allotted four cities. They were Bezer, Jahaz,
To the clans of Merari were given from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands,
37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath.
Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—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,
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, and Jazer.
The clans of Merari were also given Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands. These were four cities in all.
40 Altogether twelve cities were allotted to the Merari clans.
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 So altogether 48 cities were allotted to the tribe of Levi,
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 and each city had surrounding pastureland.
These cities each had its surrounding pasturelands. It was this way with 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.
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 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.
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 Yahweh did all the things that he had promised to the Israeli people/us. Everything that he said would happen did happen.
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.
