The Last of the Land Is Divided

18 The entire congregation of the Israelites^[a] assembled at Shiloh, and they set up there the tent of meeting, and the land was subdued before them.^{[b] 2} And seven tribes remained among the Israelites^[c] who had not been apportioned their inheritance. ³ And Joshua said to the Israelites,^[d] “How long^[e] will you be slack about going to take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,^[f] has given you? ⁴ Provide three men from each tribe,^[g] and I will send them so that they may begin to go through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance,^[h] and let them come to me. ⁵ They will divide it among themselves into seven portions; Judah will maintain its border^[i] from the south, and the house of Joseph will maintain its border^[j] from the north. ⁶ Describe the land in seven divisions, and bring it to me here; I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. ⁷ The Levites among you have no portion, for their inheritance is the priesthood of Yahweh; Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to them.”

⁸ And the men went immediately,^[k] and Joshua commanded the ones going to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk about through the land, write a description, and return to me, and here I will cast a lot for you before^[l] Yahweh at Shiloh.” ⁹ And the men went and passed through the land, and they described^[m] the cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰ and Joshua cast a lot for them at Shiloh before^[n] Yahweh, and there he divided the land for the Israelites,^[o] to each a portion.^[p]

The Allotment of Benjamin

¹¹ And the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the border of their allotment fell^[q] between the descendants^[r] of Judah and the descendants^[s] of Joseph. ¹² Their northern border began at the Jordan and went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and continued into the hill country to the west; it ends^[t] at the wilderness of Beth Aven. ¹³ The border passes on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel); then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar to the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-Horon. ¹⁴ Then the border changes direction and turns to the western side southward, from the mountain that is opposite^[u] Beth-Horon to the south. It ends^[v] at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town belonging to the descendants^[w] of Judah. This is the western side. ¹⁵ The southern side begins on the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim, and the border continues to the west to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah; ¹⁶ the border goes down to the foot^[x] of the mountain, which is opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom,^[y] which is in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites^[z] to the south, and then it goes down to En Rogel. ¹⁷ It changes direction from the north, and it continues to En Shemesh; it goes out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. ¹⁸ It passes on to the slope opposite the Arabah^[aa] to the north, and it goes down to the Arabah.^{[ab] 19} The border passes on to the slope of Beth-hoglah to the north and ends^[ac] at the north bay of the Salt Sea^[ad] at the south end of the Jordan. This is the southern border. ²⁰ The Jordan forms its border on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, its borders that surrounds them, according to their families.

²¹ Now the towns of the tribes of the descendants^[ae] of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²² Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities and their villages.

²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants^[af] of Benjamin according to their families.