The Territory of Simeon

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; and its inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah. ² And it had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Mola′dah, ³ Hazar-shu′al, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Elto′lad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-mar′caboth, Ha′zar-su′sah, ⁶ Beth-leba′oth, and Sharu′hen—thirteen cities with their villages; ⁷ En-rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages; ⁸ together with all the villages round about these cities as far as Ba′alath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families. ⁹ The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

The Territory of Zebulun

¹⁰ The third lot came up for the tribe of Zeb′ulun, according to its families. And the territory of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid; ¹¹ then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Mar′eal, and touches Dab′besheth, then the brook which is east of Jok′ne-am; ¹² from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chis′loth-ta′bor; thence it goes to Dab′erath, then up to Japhi′a; ¹³ from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Ne′ah; ¹⁴ then on the north the boundary turns about to Han′nathon, and it ends at the valley of Iph′tahel; ¹⁵ and Kattath, Na′halal, Shimron, I′dalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages. ¹⁶ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zeb′ulun, according to its families—these cities with their villages.

The Territory of Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Is′sachar, for the tribe of Is′sachar, according to its families. ¹⁸ Its territory included Jezre′el, Chesul′loth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Haph′ara-im, Shion, Ana′harath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kish′ion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gan′nim, En-had′dah, Beth-paz′zez; ²² the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazu′mah, and Beth-she′mesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Is′sachar, according to its families—the cities with their villages.

The Territory of Asher

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families. ²⁵ Its territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Ach′shaph, ²⁶ Allam′melech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-lib′nath, ²⁷ then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zeb′ulun and the valley of Iph′tahel northward to Beth-emek and Nei′el; then it continues in the north to Cabul, ²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great; ²⁹ then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab,^[a] Achzib, ³⁰ Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families—these cities with their villages.

The Territory of Naphtali

³² The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naph′tali, for the tribe of Naph′tali, according to its families. ³³ And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Za-anan′nim, and Ad′ami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan; ³⁴ then the boundary turns westward to Az′noth-ta′bor, and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zeb′ulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan. ³⁵ The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chin′nereth, ³⁶ Ad′amah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Ed′re-i, En-ha′zor, ³⁸ Yiron, Mig′dal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-she′mesh—nineteen cities with their villages. ³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naph′tali according to its families—the cities with their villages.

The Territory of Dan

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan, according to its families. ⁴¹ And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Esh′ta-ol, Ir-she′mesh, ⁴² Sha-alab′bin, Ai′jalon, Ithlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ El′tekeh, Gib′bethon, Ba′alath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-be′rak, Gath-rim′mon, ⁴⁶ and Me-jar′kon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa. ⁴⁷ When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families—these cities with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ By command of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked, Tim′nath-se′rah in the hill country of E′phraim; and he rebuilt the city, and settled in it.

⁵¹ These are the inheritances which Elea′zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

The Cities of Refuge

20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³ that the manslayer who kills any person without intent or unwittingly may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain his case to the elders of that city; then they shall take him into the city, and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. ⁵ And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the slayer into his hand; because he killed his neighbor unwittingly, having had no enmity against him in times past. ⁶ And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may go again to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”

⁷ So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naph′tali, and Shechem in the hill country of E′phraim, and Kir′iath-ar′ba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manas′seh. ⁹ These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel, and for the stranger sojourning among them, that any one who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.

Blessings of the Righteous

Law or Faith

3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? ² Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit^[a] by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? ³ Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? ⁴ Did you experience so many things in vain?—if it really is in vain. ⁵ Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith?

⁶ Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” ⁷ So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.

¹⁰ For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.” ¹¹ Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live”;^{[b] 12} but the law does not rest on faith, for “He who does them shall live by them.” ¹³ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree”— ¹⁴ that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

The Promise to Abraham

¹⁵ To give a human example, brethren: no one annuls even a man’s will,^[c] or adds to it, once it has been ratified. ¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many; but, referring to one, “And to your offspring,” which is Christ. ¹⁷ This is what I mean: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. ¹⁸ For if the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

The Purpose of the Law

¹⁹ Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary. ²⁰ Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one.

²¹ Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not; for if a law had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. ²² But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

²³ Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. ²⁴ So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a custodian; ²⁶ for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷ For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸ There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹ And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.