Towns for the Levites

21 The heads of the ·Levite families [^Lfathers of the Levites] went to talk to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ·families [fathers] of all the tribes of Israel. ² At Shiloh in the land of Canaan, they said to them, “The Lord commanded Moses that you give us towns where we may live and pastures for our animals.” ³ So the Israelites obeyed this command of the Lord and gave the Levite people these towns and pastures ·for their own land [^Lfrom their own inheritance/possessions]: ⁴ The Kohath ·family groups [clans] were part of the tribe of Levi [^Cthe three sons of Levi were Kohath, Gershom, and Merari; Ex. 6:16; Num. 3:17]. Some of the Levites in the Kohath ·family groups [clans] were from the family of Aaron the priest. To these Levites were ·given [allotted; given by lot] thirteen towns in the areas of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵ The ·other family groups [^Lrest of the sons/descendants] of Kohath were given ten towns in the areas of Ephraim, Dan, and ·West [^Lthe half-tribe of] Manasseh.

⁶ The ·people from the Gershon family groups [^Lsons/descendants of Gershom] were given thirteen towns ·in the land [^Lfrom the clans of the tribe] of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the East Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ The ·family groups [^Lclans of the sons/descendants] of Merari were given twelve towns in the areas of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸ So the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel] gave the Levites these towns and the pastures around them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

⁹ These are the names of the towns that came from the ·lands [^Ltribe of the sons/descendants] of Judah and Simeon. ¹⁰ The first ·choice of towns [^Llot] was given to the Kohath ·family groups [clans] of the Levites. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron, and all its pastures in the ·mountains [hill country] of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹² But the fields and the villages around Kiriath Arba had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh [^Las his possession].

¹³ So they gave the city of Hebron to the descendants of Aaron (Hebron was a city of ·safety [^Lrefuge for the killer/manslayer]). They also gave them the towns of Libnah, ¹⁴ Jattir, Eshtemoa, ¹⁵ Holon, Debir, ¹⁶ Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, and all the pastures around them. Nine towns were given from these two tribes.

¹⁷ ·They also gave the people of Aaron these cities that belonged to [^LAnd from] the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon, Geba, ¹⁸ Anathoth, and Almon. They gave them these four towns and the pastures around them.

¹⁹ So these thirteen towns with their pastures were given to the priests, who were from the ·family [^Lsons; descendants] of Aaron.

²⁰ The other Kohathite ·family groups [clans] of the Levites were ·given [allotted] these towns from the tribe of Ephraim: ²¹ Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim (which was a city of ·safety [^Lrefuge for the killer/manslayer]), Gezer, ²² Kibzaim, and Beth Horon. There were four towns and their pastures.

²³ The tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, ²⁴ Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. There were four towns and their pastures.

²⁵ ·West [^LThe half-tribe of] Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath Rimmon and the pastures around these two towns.

²⁶ So these ten towns and the pastures around them were given to the rest of the Kohathite ·family groups [clans].

²⁷ The Gershonite ·family groups [clans] of the Levite tribe were given these towns: ·East [^LThe half-tribe of] Manasseh gave them Golan in Bashan, which was a city of ·safety [^Lrefuge for the killer/manslayer], and Be Eshtarah, and the pastures around these two towns.

²⁸ The tribe of Issachar gave them Kishion, Daberath, ²⁹ Jarmuth, and En Gannim, and the pastures around these four towns.

³⁰ The tribe of Asher gave them Mishal, Abdon, ³¹ Helkath, and Rehob, and the pastures around these four towns.

³² The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee (a city of ·safety [refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, and the pastures around these three towns.

³³ So the Gershonite ·family groups [clans] received thirteen towns and the pastures around them.

³⁴ The Merarite ·family groups [clans] (the rest of the Levites) were given these towns: The tribe of Zebulun gave them Jokneam, Kartah, ³⁵ Dimnah, and Nahalal, and the pastures around these four towns.

³⁶ The tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer, Jahaz, ³⁷ Kedemoth, and Mephaath, along with the pastures around these four towns.

³⁸ The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead (a city of ·safety [^Lrefuge for the killer/manslayer]), Mahanaim, ³⁹ Heshbon, and Jazer, and the pastures around these four towns.

⁴⁰ So the total number of towns given to the Merarite ·family groups [clans] was twelve.

⁴¹ A total of forty-eight towns with their pastures in the ·land [^Lmidst of the possession of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel] of Israel were given to the Levites. ⁴² Each town had pastures around it [^Lthis was true of all the cities].

⁴³ So the Lord gave ·the people [^LIsrael] all the land he had promised their ancestors. The people took the land and lived there. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them ·peace [rest] on all sides, as he had ·promised [sworn to] their ancestors. None of their enemies ·defeated [could resist] them; the Lord handed all their enemies ·over to them [^Linto their hands]. ⁴⁵ He kept every promise he had made to the Israelites; each one came true.