Joshua 21

1 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.

Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2 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.”

And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle.

3 So by the command of Yahweh, the people of Israel gave out of their inheritance the following cities, including their pasturelands, to the Levites.

And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.

4 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.

And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 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.

The rest of the children of Kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 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.

The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan.

7 The people who were descendants of Merari, clan by clan, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

The children of Merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun.

8 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.

All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses.

9 From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they assigned land to the following cities, here listed by name.

From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name:

10 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.

These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution.

11 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.

They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands.

12 But the fields of the city, including their villages, were already given to Caleb son of Jephunneh, as his possession.

But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property.

13 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,

And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands;

14 Jattir with its pasturelands, and Eshtemoa with its pasturelands.

And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands;

15 They also gave Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,

And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands;

16 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.

And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes.

17 From the tribe of Benjamin were given Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,

And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands;

18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its suburbs—four cities.

Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns.

19 The cities given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron, were thirteen cities in all, including their pasturelands.

Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests.

20 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.

The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.

21 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,

And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands;

22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth Horon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns.

23 From the tribe of Dan, the clan of Kohath was given Eltekeh with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,

And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands;

24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns.

25 From the half tribe of Manasseh, the clan of Kohath was given Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath Rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities.

And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns.

26 There were ten cities in all for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites, including their pasturelands.

All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands.

27 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.

And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns.

28 To the clans of Gershon they also gave Kishion from the tribe of Issachar, along with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,

And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands;

29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En Gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.

Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns.

30 From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,

And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands:

31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns.

32 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.

And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns.

33 There were thirteen cities in all, out of the clans of Gershon, including their pasturelands.

All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands.

34 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,

And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands;

35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns.

36 To the clans of Merari were given from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands,

And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands;

37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.

Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns.

38 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.

And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands;

39 The clans of Merari were also given Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands. These were four cities in all.

Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns.

40 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.

All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns.

41 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.

All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.

42 These cities each had its surrounding pasturelands. It was this way with all these cities.

Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.

43 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.

So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.

44 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.

And the Lord gave them peace on every side, as he had said to their fathers: all those who were against them gave way before them, for the Lord gave them all up into their hands.

45 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.

The Lord kept faith with the house of Israel about all the good which he said he would do for them, and all his words came true.