Joshua 15
New Living Translation
The Land Given to the Tribe of Judah
15 The allotment for the clans of the tribe of Judah reached southward to the border of Edom, as far south as the wilderness of Zin.
2 The southern boundary began at the south bay of the Dead Sea,[a] 3 ran south of Scorpion Pass[b] into the wilderness of Zin, and then went south of Kadesh-barnea to Hezron. Then it went up to Addar, where it turned toward Karka. 4 From there it passed to Azmon until it finally reached the Brook of Egypt, which it followed to the Mediterranean Sea.[c] This was their[d] southern boundary.
5 The eastern boundary extended along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan River.
The northern boundary began at the bay where the Jordan River empties into the Dead Sea, 6 went up from there to Beth-hoglah, then proceeded north of Beth-arabah to the Stone of Bohan. (Bohan was Reuben’s son.) 7 From that point it went through the valley of Achor to Debir, turning north toward Gilgal, which is across from the slopes of Adummim on the south side of the valley. From there the boundary extended to the springs at En-shemesh and on to En-rogel. 8 The boundary then passed through the valley of Ben-Hinnom, along the southern slopes of the Jebusites, where the city of Jerusalem is located. Then it went west to the top of the mountain above the valley of Hinnom, and on up to the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. 9 From there the boundary extended from the top of the mountain to the spring at the waters of Nephtoah,[e] and from there to the towns on Mount Ephron. Then it turned toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath-jearim). 10 The boundary circled west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the town of Kesalon on the northern slope of Mount Jearim, and went down to Beth-shemesh and on to Timnah. 11 The boundary then proceeded to the slope of the hill north of Ekron, where it turned toward Shikkeron and Mount Baalah. It passed Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
12 The western boundary was the shoreline of the Mediterranean Sea.[f]
These are the boundaries for the clans of the tribe of Judah.
The Land Given to Caleb
13 The Lord commanded Joshua to assign some of Judah’s territory to Caleb son of Jephunneh. So Caleb was given the town of Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), which had been named after Anak’s ancestor. 14 Caleb drove out the three groups of Anakites—the descendants of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai, the sons of Anak.
15 From there he went to fight against the people living in the town of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher). 16 Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Acsah in marriage to the one who attacks and captures Kiriath-sepher.” 17 Othniel, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, was the one who conquered it, so Acsah became Othniel’s wife.
18 When Acsah married Othniel, she urged him[g] to ask her father for a field. As she got down off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What’s the matter?”
19 She said, “Give me another gift. You have already given me land in the Negev; now please give me springs of water, too.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
The Towns Allotted to Judah
20 This was the homeland allocated to the clans of the tribe of Judah.
21 The towns of Judah situated along the borders of Edom in the extreme south were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28 Hazar-shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Kesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon—twenty-nine towns with their surrounding villages.
33 The following towns situated in the western foothills[h] were also given to Judah: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim—fourteen towns with their surrounding villages.
37 Also included were Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Kitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah—sixteen towns with their surrounding villages.
42 Besides these, there were Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Aczib, and Mareshah—nine towns with their surrounding villages.
45 The territory of the tribe of Judah also included Ekron and its surrounding settlements and villages. 46 From Ekron the boundary extended west and included the towns near Ashdod with their surrounding villages. 47 It also included Ashdod with its surrounding settlements and villages and Gaza with its settlements and villages, as far as the Brook of Egypt and along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
48 Judah also received the following towns in the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh—eleven towns with their surrounding villages.
52 Also included were the towns of Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), and Zior—nine towns with their surrounding villages.
55 Besides these, there were Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah—ten towns with their surrounding villages.
58 In addition, there were Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon—six towns with their surrounding villages.
60 There were also Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah—two towns with their surrounding villages.
61 In the wilderness there were the towns of Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and En-gedi—six towns with their surrounding villages.
63 But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, who lived in the city of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to this day.
Joshua 15
International Standard Version
Allotments to Judah
15 Joshua said,[a] “Now the allotment for the tribe of the descendants of Judah, allocated[b] according to their families, will extend to the border of Edom, southward to the wilderness of Zin until land’s end, 2 then from the southern end of the Dead Sea, that is, from the bay that orients toward the Negev,[c] 3 proceeding south to the ascent of Akrabbim, then continuing to Zin, and from there up along the south of Kadesh-barnea to Hezron, and from there up to Addar and then to Karka, 4 passing along to Azmon toward the Wadi[d] of Egypt and ending at the sea. This will be your southern border.”
5 The eastern border was the Dead Sea as far as the mouth of the Jordan River. The border of the north side extended from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan River 6 toward Beth-hoglah, and continuing on the north of Beth-arabah. The border ascended up to the boundary marker set up by Reuben’s son Bohan.
7 The boundary then went up to Debir from the Achor valley and turned north toward Gilgal opposite the ascent of Adummim in the southern part of the valley. Then the border continued to the waters of En-shemesh and terminated at En-rogel. 8 Then the border proceeded up the valley of Ben-hinnom to the southern ascent of the Jebusites (that is, to Jerusalem), and from there to the top of the mountain that faces the valley of Hinnom to the west at the end of the valley of Rephaim[e] toward the north.
9 The border proceeded from the top of the mountain to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, then to the cities of Mount Ephron, and then the border curved toward Baalah (also known as Kiriath-jearim). 10 The border turned west from Baalah to Mount Seir,[f] continuing to the top of Mount Jearim on the north (also known as Chesalon), and then proceeded to Beth-shemesh, continuing through Timnah.
11 The border proceeded north to the edge of Ekron, then curved to Shikkeron and on to Mount Baalah, proceeding then to Jabneel, where the boundary ended at the sea. 12 The western border was at the Mediterranean Sea coastline. This is the border that surrounded the territory of[g] the descendants of Judah, according to their families.
Caleb’s Conquests(A)
13 Now Joshua[h] gave an allotment among the descendants of Judah to Jephunneh’s son Caleb, just as God told Joshua, Kiriath-arba, which was named after the[i] ancestor of Anak (that is, Hebron). 14 From there Caleb drove the three descendants of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai—the Anakim.[j] 15 Then he went up from there to attack the inhabitants of Debir. (Debir was formerly known as Kiriath-sepher.)
16 Then Caleb announced, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the one who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it.” 17 Othniel, the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz, captured it, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as his wife. 18 Sometime later, she came to Othniel[k] and persuaded him to ask her father for a field.
As she dismounted from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”
19 She replied, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negev,[l] give me also some springs of water.” So he gave her the upper and lower springs.
City Allotments for Judah
20 Here’s a list of cities allotted for the tribe of the descendants of Judah according to their families: 21 The cities to the far south of the tribe of the descendants of Judah (toward the border of Edom in the south) included Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (also known as Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28 Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon, for a total of 29 cities and villages.
33 The lowland cities included Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuach, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim, for a total of fourteen cities and villages.
37 Also included were[m] Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38 Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah, for a total of sixteen cities and villages.
42 Also included were Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah, for a total of nine cities and villages.
45 Also included were Ekron, with its towns and villages, 46 from Ekron to the Mediterranean[n] Sea, including everything by the edge of Ashdod, along with their villages, 47 Ashdod and its towns and villages, Gaza and its towns and villages as far as the River of Egypt, and the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea.
48 The hill country included Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (also known as Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, Giloh, for a total of eleven cities and villages. 52 Also included were Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janum, Beth-tappuach, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Kiriath-arba (also known as Hebron), and Zior, for a total of nine cities and villages. 55 Also included were Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah, for a total of ten cities and villages. 58 Also included were Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon, for a total of six cities and villages. 60 Also included were Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah, for a total of two cities and villages.
61 The wilderness included Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, Salt City, and En-gedi, for a total of six cities and villages.
63 Now as for the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, the descendants of Judah could not expel them, so Jebusites live with the descendants of Judah in Jerusalem to this day.
Footnotes
- Joshua 15:1 The Heb. lacks Joshua said
- Joshua 15:1 The Heb. lacks allocated
- Joshua 15:2 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Joshua 15:4 I.e. a seasonal stream or river that channels water during rain seasons but is dry at other times
- Joshua 15:8 Lit. Valley of the Giants; the Rephaim were a race of giants that formerly populated Canaan; cf. Num 13:22, 33; Deut 9:2
- Joshua 15:10 This mountain, the modern Jebel esh-sherá, is located in the mountain range that extends south of the Dead Sea toward the Gulf of Aqaba, and is bordered by the Arabah Valley to the west.
- Joshua 15:12 The Heb. lacks the territory of
- Joshua 15:13 Lit. he
- Joshua 15:13 The Heb. lacks which was named after the
- Joshua 15:14 I.e. a race of giants that formerly populated Canaan; cf. Num 13:22, 33; Deut 9:2
- Joshua 15:18 The Heb. lacks to Othniel
- Joshua 15:19 I.e. the southern region of Israel; cf. Josh 10:40
- Joshua 15:37 The Heb. lacks Also included were; and so throughout the chapter
- Joshua 15:46 The Heb. lacks Mediterranean
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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