Joshua 21

1 And the heads of the fathers of the Levites draw nigh unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

The leaders of the tribe of Levi approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the leaders of the Israelite tribes.

2 and they speak unto them in Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, saying, 'Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses to give to us cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for our cattle.'

They spoke to them at Shiloh in Canaan, saying, “The Lord gave instructions through Moses to give us towns to live in, and pastures for our flocks.”

3 And the sons of Israel give to the Levites, out of their inheritance, at the command of Jehovah, these cities and their suburbs:

So, following the Lord's instructions, the Israelites gave towns and pastures to the Levites from their own allocations.

4 And the lot goeth out for the families of the Kohathite, and there are for the sons of Aaron the priest (of the Levites), out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, by lot thirteen cities,

The lot was cast for the families of the Kothaites. These Levites, descendants of Aaron, were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 and for the sons of Kohath who are left, out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, by lot ten cities:

The remaining families of the descendants of Kothah were allotted ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 And for the sons of Gershon [are], 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, by lot, thirteen cities.

The families of the descendants of Gershon were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh living in Bashan.

7 For the sons of Merari, for their families, [are], out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

The families of the descendants of Merari were allotted twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8 And the sons of Israel give to the Levites these cities and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded by the hand of Moses, by lot.

So the Israelites gave the Levites by lot these towns and pastures, as the Lord had instructed through Moses.

9 And they give out of the tribe of the sons of Judah, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, these cities which are called by name;

They gave from the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon the following towns, specifically named,

10 and they are for the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathite, of the sons of Levi, for theirs hath been the first lot;

to the families of the Kothaites, descendants of Aaron, of the tribe of Levi, since the first lot fell to them:

11 and they give to them the city of Arba father of Anak (it [is] Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah, and its suburbs round about it;

Kiriath-arba (or Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, together with the pastures around it. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)

12 and the field of the city and its villages they have given to Caleb son of Jephunneh for his possession.

But the more distant fields from the town and the villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh to own.

13 And to the sons of Aaron the priest they have given the city of refuge [for] the man-slayer, Hebron and its suburbs, and Libnah and its suburbs,

They gave to the descendants of Aaron the priest the following towns and their pastures: Hebron (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Libnah,

14 and Jattir and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs,

Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15 and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs,

Holon, Debir,

16 and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, Beth-Shemesh and its suburbs; nine cities out of these two tribes.

Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine towns from these two tribes.

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

From the tribe of Benjamin the following four towns and their pastures: Gibeon, Geba,

18 Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its suburbs — four cities;

Anathoth, and Almon.

19 all the cities of the sons of Aaron the priests, [are] thirteen cities and their suburbs.

So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

20 And for the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, who are left of the sons of Kohath, even the cities of their lot are of the tribe of Ephraim;

As for the remaining families of the children of Kothah from the tribe of Levi, they were given by lot four towns and their pastures from the tribe of Ephraim:

21 and they give to them the city of refuge [for] the man-slayer, Shechem and its suburbs, in the hill-country of Ephraim, and Gezer and its suburbs,

Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Gezer,

22 and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-Horon and its suburbs — four cities.

Kibzaim, and Beth-horon.

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

From the tribe of Dan, the following four towns and their pastures: Eltekeh, Gibbethon,

24 Aijalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs — four cities.

Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon.

25 And out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs, and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs — two cities;

From the half-tribe of Manasseh the following two towns and their pastures: Taanach and Gath-rimmon.

26 all the cities [are] ten and their suburbs, for the families of the sons of Kohath who are left.

So in total ten towns and their pastures were given to remaining families of the descendants of Kothah.

27 And for the sons of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half of the tribe of Manasseh, the city of refuge [for] the man-slayer, Golan in Bashan and its suburbs, and Beeshterah and its suburbs — two cities.

The families of the descendants of Gershon from the tribe of Levi received the following two towns and their pastures from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), and Be-eshterah.

28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon and its suburbs, Dabarath and its suburbs,

From the tribe of Issachar the following four towns and their pastures: Kishion, Daberath,

29 Jarmuth and its suburbs, En-Gannim and its suburbs — four cities.

Jarmuth, and En-gannim.

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

From the tribe of Asher the following four towns and their pastures: Mishal, Abdon,

31 Helkath and its suburbs, and Rehob and its suburbs — four cities.

Helkath, and Rehob.

32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge [for] the man-slayer, Kedesh in Galilee and its suburbs, and Hammoth-Dor and its suburbs, and Kartan and its suburbs — three cities;

From the tribe of Naphtali the following three towns and their pastures: Kedesh in Galilee (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan.

33 all the cities of the Gershonite, for their families, [are] thirteen cities and their suburbs.

So in total thirteen towns and their pastures were allotted to the families of Gershon.

34 And for the families of the sons of Merari, the Levites, who are left, [are, ] out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its suburbs, Kartah and its suburbs,

The families of the descendants of Merari, those remaining from the tribe of Levi, received the following four towns and their pastures from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam, Kartah,

35 Dimnah and its suburbs, Nahalal and its suburbs — four cities.

Dimnah, and Nahalal.

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

From the tribe of Reuben the following four towns and their pastures: Bezer, Jahaz,

37 Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath and its suburbs — four cities.

Kedemoth, and Mephaath.

38 And out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge [for] the man-slayer, Ramoth in Gilead and its suburbs, and Mahanaim and its suburbs,

From the tribe of Gad the following four towns and their pastures: Ramoth in Gilead (a sanctuary town for those who accidentally committed murder), Mahanaim,

39 Heshbon and its suburbs, Jazer and its suburbs — [in] all four cities.

Heshbon, and Jazer.

40 All the cities for the sons of Merari, for their families, who are left of the families of the Levites — their lot is twelve cities.

So in total twelve towns were allotted to the families of Merari, those remaining from the tribe of Levi.

41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel [are] forty and eight cities, and their suburbs.

The Levites received a total of forty-eight towns and pastures within the land of the Israelites.

42 These cities are each city and its suburbs round about it; so to all these cities.

Each of these towns had pastures around them.

43 And Jehovah giveth to Israel the whole of the land which He hath sworn to give to their fathers, and they possess it, and dwell in it;

And so the Lord gave to the Israelites all the land he had promised their ancestors. They took possession of it and settled there.

44 and Jehovah giveth rest to them round about, according to all that which He hath sworn to their fathers, and there hath not stood a man in their presence of all their enemies, the whole of their enemies hath Jehovah given into their hand;

The Lord gave them peace on every side as he had promised their ancestors. Not a single one of their enemies could stand against them, for the Lord had handed their enemies over to them to defeat.

45 there hath not fallen a thing of all the good thing which Jehovah spake unto the house of Israel — the whole hath come.

Not a single one of the good things the Lord promised Israel had failed; everything had come true.