Joshua 18
Legacy Standard Bible
The Remaining Land Divided
18 Then the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled themselves at (A)Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there; and the land was subdued before them.
2 And there remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not divided their inheritance. 3 So Joshua said to the sons of Israel, “(B)How long will you put off entering to take possession of the land which Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Provide for yourselves three men from [a]each tribe that I may send them, and that they may arise and walk through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance; then they shall [b]return to me. 5 And they shall divide it into seven portions; (C)Judah shall stay in its territory on the south, and the house of Joseph shall stay in their territory on the north. 6 So you shall write a description of the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. (D)I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. 7 For (E)the Levites have no portion among you because the priesthood of Yahweh is [c]their inheritance. Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh also have received their inheritance eastward beyond the Jordan, which Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”
8 Then the men arose and went, and Joshua commanded those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go and walk through the land and write a description of it, and return to me; then I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh in (F)Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and passed through the land and wrote a description of it by cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh. 10 And (G)Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before Yahweh, and there Joshua divided the land to the sons of Israel according to their divisions.
Benjamin’s Inheritance
11 Now the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the territory of their lot [d]lay between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph. 12 (H)And their border on the north side was from the Jordan; then the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north and went up through the hill country westward, and [e]it ended at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 From there the border passed on to (I)Luz, to the side of Luz (that is, Bethel) southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, near the hill which lies on the south of (J)lower Beth-horon. 14 Then the border curved from there and turned round on the west side southward, from the hill which lies before Beth-horon southward; and [f]it ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the sons of Judah. This was the west side. 15 Then the (K)south side was from the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border went out westward and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the border went down to the edge of the hill which is in the (L)valley of Ben-hinnom, which is in the valley of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the slope of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel. 17 Then it curved northward and went out to En-shemesh and went out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it went down to the (M)stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 Then it continued to the side in front of the Arabah northward and went down to the Arabah. 19 And the border passed on to the side of Beth-hoglah northward; and the [g]border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan. This was the south border. 20 Moreover, the Jordan was its border on the east side. This was the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, according to their families and according to its borders all around.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho and Beth-hoglah and Emek-keziz, 22 and Beth-arabah and Zemaraim and Bethel, 23 and Avvim and Parah and Ophrah, 24 and Chephar-ammoni and Ophni and (N)Geba; twelve cities with their villages. 25 Gibeon and Ramah and Beeroth, 26 and Mizpeh and Chephirah and Mozah, 27 and Rekem and Irpeel and Taralah, 28 and (O)Zelah, Haeleph and the Jebusite (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the (P)sons of Benjamin according to their families.
Footnotes
- Joshua 18:4 Lit the
- Joshua 18:4 Lit come
- Joshua 18:7 Lit his
- Joshua 18:11 Lit went out
- Joshua 18:12 Lit the goings out of it were
- Joshua 18:14 Lit the goings out of it were
- Joshua 18:19 Lit goings out of the border were
Joshua 18
Common English Bible
Remainder of the land
18 The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the meeting tent there. The conquered land lay before them. 2 Among the Israelites, seven tribes were left that had not yet received their legacy. 3 Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you avoid going to take over the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? 4 Pick out three men for each tribe. I will send them out, and they will go up and travel throughout the land. They will write a description of it as the basis for determining their legacy. Then they will come back to me. 5 They will divide up the land among themselves into seven portions. Judah will stay on its territory to the south. The house of Joseph will stay on their territory to the north. 6 But you will write a report in seven parts and bring the report back here to me. Then I will cast the lot for you here, before the Lord our God. 7 However, there won’t be a portion among you for the Levites because their legacy is the priesthood of the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their legacy on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the Lord’s servant gave it to them.”
8 When the men had prepared to go, Joshua gave orders to those going to write a description of the land. “Go and travel around the land, write about it, and return to me. I will cast the lot for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and passed through the land and wrote about it in a document, city by city, in seven sections. They came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. There Joshua divided up the shares of the land for the Israelites.
Border of Benjamin
11 The lot for the clans of the Benjaminite tribe appeared first. The border of their allotment went out between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. 12 Their border on the north side ran from the Jordan. The border went up to the slope of Jericho on the north. It went up westward in the highlands and ended at the wasteland of Beth-aven. 13 The border passed on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz on the south (that is, Bethel). The border went down to Ataroth-adar on the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-horon. 14 The border turned and came around southward on the west side, running from the mountain that is opposite Beth-horon on the south. It ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the people of Judah. This was its west side.
15 The south side ran from the limits of Kiriath-jearim. The border went out westward. It then proceeded to the waters of Nephtoah Spring. 16 The border went down to the foot of the mountain that is opposite the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the north part of the Rephaim Valley. It went down through the Hinnom Valley to the slope of the Jebusite city on the south. It then went down to En-rogel. 17 It turned northward. Then it went to En-shemesh and then to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the Stone of Bohan (Reuben’s son). 18 It passed on to the slope of Beth-arabah[a] on the north and went down into the desert plain. 19 The border passed on to the slope of Beth-hoglah on the north. The border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border. 20 The Jordan bordered it on the east side. This is the legacy of the Benjaminite clans according to its borders.
Cities of Benjamin
21 The cities of the clans of the Benjaminite tribe are Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. In total: twelve cities and their surrounding areas.
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath. In total: fourteen cities and their surrounding areas. This is the legacy of the Benjaminite clans.
Footnotes
- Joshua 18:18 LXX and Josh 15:6; MT slope opposite the desert plain
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