⁴⁹ When they had finished dividing the land for inheritance by its borders, the Israelites gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ According to the command of the Lord they gave him the city for which he asked—Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it.

⁵¹ These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed by lot in Shiloh before the Lord at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

Six Cities of Refuge

20 The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Speak to the Israelites, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³ so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, ^[a]without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the ^[b]blood avenger.^{(A) 4} He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and ^[c]explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them. ⁵ If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor ^[d]unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and ^[e]if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.’”

⁷ So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].

Forty-eight Cities of the Levites

21 Then the heads of the ^[f]households of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel. ² They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle.” ³ So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these [forty-eight] cities and their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the Lord. ⁴ The [first] lot (allotment) came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those ^[g]Levites who were sons (descendants) of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of Simeon and from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵ The rest of the sons of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ The sons of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ The sons of Merari according to their families received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸ The sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ They gave these cities which are mentioned here by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon; ¹⁰ and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, because the lot fell to them first. ¹¹ They gave them [the city of] Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands. ¹² But the fields of the city and its villages they had given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his property.

¹³ So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands, ¹⁴ and Jattir with its pasture lands and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, ¹⁵ and Holon with its pasture lands and Debir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶ and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes (Judah and Simeon). ¹⁷ From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, and Geba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasture lands and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities. ¹⁹ All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

²⁰ Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath. ²¹ They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands, ²² and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities. ²³ From the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities. ²⁵ From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities. ²⁶ All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath totaled ten.

²⁷ To the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, they gave from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, [the city of] Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities. ²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities. ³⁰ From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities. ³² From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities. ³³ All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴ To the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pasture lands and Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities. ³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben, they gave Bezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities. ³⁸ From the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands and Mahanaim with its pasture lands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasture lands and Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all. ⁴⁰ All [these were] the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

⁴¹ All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the property of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. ⁴² These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; so it was with all these cities.

⁴³ So the Lord gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers (ancestors), and they took possession of it and lived in it. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them rest [from conflict] on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and not one of all their enemies stood before them [in battle]; the Lord handed over all their enemies to them. ⁴⁵ Not one of the good promises which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.

⁵⁴ Now these are their settlements according to their camps within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites (for theirs was the first allocation by lot)^{(A) 55} to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasture land; ⁵⁶ but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ⁵⁷ To the sons of Aaron they gave the following cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasture lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,^{(B) 58} Hilen with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ⁵⁹ Ashan with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; ⁶⁰ and from the tribe of Benjamin: Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth, with their pasture lands. All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.

⁶¹ Then to the rest of the sons of Kohath were given ten cities by lot from the family of the tribe [of Ephraim and of Dan and], from the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh.^{(C) 62} To the sons of Gershom, according to their families, were given thirteen cities from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and [the other half of] Manasseh in Bashan. ⁶³ To the sons of Merari were given twelve cities by lot, according to their families, from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ⁶⁴ So the sons of Israel gave to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands. ⁶⁵ They gave by lot from the tribes of the sons of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin these cities which are mentioned by name.

⁶⁶ Some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their [allotted] territory from the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁷ They gave to the Levites the following cities of refuge: Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim with its pasture lands, Gezer with its pasture lands; ⁶⁸ Jokmeam and Beth-horon with their pasture lands, ⁶⁹ Aijalon and Gath-rimmon, with their pasture lands; ⁷⁰ and from the half-tribe of Manasseh [these cities], with their pasture lands: Aner and Bileam, for the rest of the families of the sons of Kohath.

⁷¹ To the sons of Gershom were given from the family of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan and Ashtaroth, with their pasture lands; ⁷² from the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh and Daberath with their pasture lands, ⁷³ Ramoth and Anem with their pasture lands; ⁷⁴ from the tribe of Asher: Mashal and Abdon with their pasture lands, ⁷⁵ Hukok and Rehob with their pasture lands; ⁷⁶ and from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim with their pasture lands.

⁷⁷ To the rest of the Levites, the sons of Merari were given, from the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono and Tabor, with their pasture lands; ⁷⁸ and on the other side of the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan the Levites were given, from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness and Jahzah with their pasture lands, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth and Mephaath with their pasture lands; ⁸⁰ from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead and Mahanaim with their pasture lands, ⁸¹ Heshbon and Jazer with their pasture lands.