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Joshua 21-22
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Joshua 21-22
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Cities of the Levites
21 The heads of the Levite families approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes. 2 At Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, they told them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”(A) 3 So the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.
4 The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of Aaron the priest received 13 cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The remaining descendants of Kohath[a] received 10 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and half the tribe of Manasseh.
6 Gershon’s descendants received 13 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 Merari’s descendants received 12 cities for their clans from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 The Israelites gave these cities with their pasturelands around them to the Levites by lot, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Cities of Aaron’s Descendants
9 The Israelites gave these cities by name from the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon 10 to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because they received the first lot. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba(B) (that is, Hebron) with its surrounding pasturelands in the hill country of Judah. Arba was the father of Anak. 12 But they gave the fields and villages of the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.
13 They gave to the descendants of Aaron the priest:
Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands, 14 Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 16 Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.
17 From the tribe of Benjamin they gave:
Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, 18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. 19 All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.
Cities of Kohath’s Other Descendants
20 The allotted cities to the remaining clans of Kohath’s descendants, who were Levites, came from the tribe of Ephraim. 21 The Israelites gave them:
Shechem,(C) the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities.
23 From the tribe of Dan they gave:
Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, 24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities.
25 From half the tribe of Manasseh they gave:
Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath-rimmon[b] with its pasturelands—two cities.
26 All 10 cities with their pasturelands were for the clans of Kohath’s other descendants.
Cities of Gershon’s Descendants
27 From half the tribe of Manasseh, they gave to the descendants of Gershon,(D) who were one of the Levite clans:
Golan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in Bashan, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities.
28 From the tribe of Issachar they gave:
Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.
30 From the tribe of Asher they gave:
Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities.
32 From the tribe of Naphtali they gave:
Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities.
33 All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the Gershonites by their clans.
Cities of Merari’s Descendants
34 From the tribe of Zebulun, they gave to the clans of the descendants of Merari,(E) who were the remaining Levites:
Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, 35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities.
36 From the tribe of Reuben they gave:
Bezer(F) with its pasturelands, Jahzah[c] with its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.[d]
38 From the tribe of Gad they gave:
Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 39 Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. 40 All 12 cities were allotted to the clans of Merari’s descendants, the remaining Levite clans.
41 Within the Israelite possession there were 48 cities in all with their pasturelands for the Levites.(G) 42 Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.
The Lord’s Promises Fulfilled
43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them. 45 None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.(H)
Eastern Tribes Return Home
22 Joshua summoned the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh 2 and told them, “You have done everything Moses the Lord’s servant commanded you(I) and have obeyed me in everything I commanded you. 3 You have not deserted your brothers even once this whole time but have carried out the requirement of the command of the Lord your God. 4 Now that He has given your brothers rest, just as He promised them, return to your homes in your own land that Moses the Lord’s servant gave you across the Jordan. 5 Only carefully obey the command and instruction that Moses the Lord’s servant gave you: to love the Lord your God, walk in all His ways, keep His commands, remain faithful[e] to Him, and serve Him with all your heart and all your soul.”(J)
6 Joshua blessed them and sent them on their way,(K) and they went to their homes. 7 Moses had given territory to half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, but Joshua had given territory to the other half,[f] with their brothers, on the west side of the Jordan.(L) When Joshua sent them to their homes and blessed them, 8 he said, “Return to your homes with great wealth: a huge number of cattle, and silver, gold, bronze, iron, and a large quantity of clothing. Share the spoil of your enemies with your brothers.”(M)
Eastern Tribes Build an Altar
9 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to return to their own land of Gilead,(N) which they took possession of according to the Lord’s command through Moses. 10 When they came to the region of[g] the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh built a large, impressive altar there by the Jordan.
11 Then the Israelites heard it said, “Look, the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the frontier of the land of Canaan at the region of[h] the Jordan, on the Israelite side.” 12 When the Israelites heard this, the entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh to go to war against them.(O)
Explanation of the Altar
13 The Israelites sent Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead.(P) 14 They sent 10 leaders with him—one family leader for each tribe of Israel. All of them were heads of their families among the clans of Israel.(Q) 15 They went to the Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and told them, 16 “This is what the Lord’s entire community says: ‘What is this treachery you have committed today against the God of Israel by turning away from the Lord and building an altar for yourselves, so that you are in rebellion against the Lord today? 17 Wasn’t the sin of Peor, which brought a plague on the Lord’s community, enough for us, so that we have not cleansed ourselves from it even to this day,(R) 18 and now, you would turn away from the Lord? If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow He will be angry with the entire community of Israel.(S) 19 But if the land you possess is defiled, cross over to the land the Lord possesses where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession of it among us. But don’t rebel against the Lord or against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 Wasn’t Achan son of Zerah unfaithful regarding what was set apart for destruction, bringing wrath on the entire community of Israel? He was not the only one who perished because of his sin.’”(T)
21 The Reubenites, Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered the leaders of the Israelite clans, 22 “Yahweh is the God of gods! Yahweh is the God of gods![i] He knows,(U) and may Israel also know. Do not spare us today, if it was in rebellion or treachery against the Lord 23 that we have built for ourselves an altar to turn away from Him. May the Lord Himself hold us accountable if we intended to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings on it, or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it. 24 We actually did this from a specific concern that in the future your descendants might say to our descendants, ‘What relationship do you have with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between us and you descendants of Reuben and Gad. You have no share in the Lord!’ So your descendants may cause our descendants to stop fearing the Lord.
26 “Therefore we said: Let us take action and build an altar for ourselves, but not for burnt offering or sacrifice. 27 Instead, it is to be a witness between us and you,(V) and between the generations after us, so that we may carry out the worship of the Lord in His presence with our burnt offerings, sacrifices, and fellowship offerings.(W) Then in the future, your descendants will not be able to say to our descendants, ‘You have no share in the Lord!’ 28 We thought that if they said this to us or to our generations in the future, we would reply: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar that our fathers made, not for burnt offering or sacrifice, but as a witness between us and you. 29 We would never rebel against the Lord or turn away from Him today by building an altar for burnt offering, grain offering, or sacrifice, other than the altar of the Lord our God, which is in front of His tabernacle.”
Conflict Resolved
30 When Phinehas the priest and the community leaders, the heads of Israel’s clans who were with him, heard what the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest said to the descendants of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this treachery against Him.(X) As a result, you have delivered the Israelites from the Lord’s power.”
32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar the priest and the leaders returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the Israelites in the land of Canaan and brought back a report to them. 33 The Israelites were pleased with the report, and they praised God.(Y) They spoke no more about going to war against them to ravage the land where the Reubenites and Gadites lived. 34 So the Reubenites and Gadites named the altar: It[j] is a witness between us that the Lord is God.
Footnotes
- Joshua 21:5 Descendants not in Aaron’s priestly line
- Joshua 21:25 Or Ibleam
- Joshua 21:36 Or Jahaz
- Joshua 21:37 Some Hb mss omit these vv.
- Joshua 22:5 Lit commands, hold on
- Joshua 22:7 Lit to his half
- Joshua 22:10 Or to Geliloth by
- Joshua 22:11 Or at Geliloth by
- Joshua 22:22 Or The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord!, or God, the Lord God! God, the Lord God!
- Joshua 22:34 Some Hb mss, Syr, Tg read altar Witness because it
Joshua 21-22
New International Version
Joshua 21-22
New International Version
Towns for the Levites(A)
21 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel(B) 2 at Shiloh(C) in Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us towns(D) to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.”(E) 3 So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:
4 The first lot came out for the Kohathites,(F) according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.(G) 5 The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.(H)
6 The descendants of Gershon(I) were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar,(J) Asher,(K) Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The descendants of Merari,(L) according to their clans, received twelve(M) towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.(N)
8 So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name 10 (these towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them):
11 They gave them Kiriath Arba(O) (that is, Hebron(P)), with its surrounding pastureland, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) 12 But the fields and villages around the city they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.(Q)
13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge(R) for one accused of murder), Libnah,(S) 14 Jattir,(T) Eshtemoa,(U) 15 Holon,(V) Debir,(W) 16 Ain,(X) Juttah(Y) and Beth Shemesh,(Z) together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.
17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon,(AA) Geba,(AB) 18 Anathoth(AC) and Almon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.
19 The total number of towns(AD) for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.(AE)
20 The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted towns from the tribe of Ephraim:
21 In the hill country of Ephraim they were given Shechem(AF) (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Gezer,(AG) 22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon,(AH) together with their pasturelands—four towns.(AI)
23 Also from the tribe of Dan they received Eltekeh, Gibbethon,(AJ) 24 Aijalon(AK) and Gath Rimmon,(AL) together with their pasturelands—four towns.
25 From half the tribe of Manasseh they received Taanach(AM) and Gath Rimmon, together with their pasturelands—two towns.
26 All these ten towns and their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.(AN)
27 The Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:
from the half-tribe of Manasseh,
Golan in Bashan(AO) (a city of refuge for one accused of murder(AP)) and Be Eshterah, together with their pasturelands—two towns;
28 from the tribe of Issachar,(AQ)
Kishion,(AR) Daberath,(AS) 29 Jarmuth(AT) and En Gannim,(AU) together with their pasturelands—four towns;
30 from the tribe of Asher,(AV)
32 from the tribe of Naphtali,
Kedesh(AZ) in Galilee (a city of refuge for one accused of murder(BA)), Hammoth Dor and Kartan, together with their pasturelands—three towns.
33 The total number of towns of the Gershonite(BB) clans came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.
34 The Merarite clans (the rest of the Levites) were given:
from the tribe of Zebulun,(BC)
Jokneam,(BD) Kartah, 35 Dimnah and Nahalal,(BE) together with their pasturelands—four towns;
36 from the tribe of Reuben,
38 from the tribe of Gad,
Ramoth(BI) in Gilead(BJ) (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Mahanaim,(BK) 39 Heshbon and Jazer,(BL) together with their pasturelands—four towns in all.
40 The total number of towns allotted to the Merarite clans, who were the rest of the Levites, came to twelve.(BM)
41 The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands.(BN) 42 Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all these towns.
43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors,(BO) and they took possession(BP) of it and settled there.(BQ) 44 The Lord gave them rest(BR) on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies(BS) withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies(BT) into their hands.(BU) 45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises(BV) to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
Eastern Tribes Return Home
22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded,(BW) and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. 3 For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. 4 Now that the Lord your God has given them rest(BX) as he promised, return to your homes(BY) in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.(BZ) 5 But be very careful to keep the commandment(CA) and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord(CB) your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands,(CC) to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.(CD)”
6 Then Joshua blessed(CE) them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. 7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan,(CF) and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west side(CG) of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them,(CH) 8 saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock,(CI) with silver, gold, bronze and iron,(CJ) and a great quantity of clothing—and divide(CK) the plunder(CL) from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”
9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shiloh(CM) in Canaan to return to Gilead,(CN) their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.
10 When they came to Geliloth(CO) near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altar(CP) there by the Jordan. 11 And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, 12 the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh(CQ) to go to war against them.
13 So the Israelites sent Phinehas(CR) son of Eleazar,(CS) the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.(CT)
15 When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: 16 “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faith(CU) with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellion(CV) against him now? 17 Was not the sin of Peor(CW) enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! 18 And are you now turning away from the Lord?
“‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole community(CX) of Israel. 19 If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle(CY) stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altar(CZ) for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,[a](DA) did not wrath(DB) come on the whole community(DC) of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’”(DD)
21 Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God,(DE) the Lord!(DF) He knows!(DG) And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. 23 If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings,(DH) or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.(DI)
24 “No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.
26 “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ 27 On the contrary, it is to be a witness(DJ) between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.(DK) Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’
28 “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witness(DL) between us and you.’
29 “Far be it from us to rebel(DM) against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.(DN)”
30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us,(DO) because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”
32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites.(DP) 33 They were glad to hear the report and praised God.(DQ) And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.
34 And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witness(DR) Between Us—that the Lord is God.
Footnotes
- Joshua 22:20 The Hebrew term refers to the irrevocable giving over of things or persons to the Lord, often by totally destroying them.
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