Joshua 21

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

Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel

2 And they spoke to 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 their suburbs for our cattle.

at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”

3 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.

So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

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

The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

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.

The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

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.

The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7 The children of Merari by 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 the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

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

So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

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 Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name

10 Which the children of Aaron, [being] of the families of the Kohathites, [who were] of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.

to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

11 And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak (which [city is] Hebron) in the hill -[country] of Judah, with its suburbs round it.

They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

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

But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13 Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron with its suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with its suburbs,

So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

14 And Jattir with its suburbs, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 And Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs,

Holon, Debir,

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

Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

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

And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

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

Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

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

In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

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

The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim

21 For they gave them Shechem with its suburbs in mount Ephraim, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with its suburbs,

they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

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

Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

24 Ajalon with its suburbs, Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; four cities.

Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

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

And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

26 All the cities [were] ten with their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.

In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

27 And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the [other] half-tribe of Manasseh [they gave] Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer, and Beesh-terah with its suburbs; two cities.

This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given: From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with its suburbs, Dabareh with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

29 Jarmuth with its suburbs, En-gannim with its suburbs; four cities.

Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

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

Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammoth-dor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities.

And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.

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

In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

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

This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

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

Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, and Jahazah with its suburbs,

From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

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

Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs [to be] a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,

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

Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

40 So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were [by] their lot twelve cities.

In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel [were] forty and eight cities with their suburbs.

For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.

42 These cities were every one with their suburbs around them. Thus [were] all these cities.

Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

43 And the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers: and they possessed it, and dwelt in it.

Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.

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

And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

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

Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.