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
Christian Standard Bible
Land Distribution at Shiloh
18 The entire Israelite community assembled at Shiloh(A) and set up the tent of meeting there. The land had been subdued before them, 2 but seven tribes among the Israelites were left who had not divided up their inheritance. 3 So Joshua asked the Israelites, “How long will you delay going out to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, gave you?(B) 4 Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They are to go and survey the land, write a description of it for the purpose of their inheritance, and return to me. 5 Then they are to divide it into seven portions. Judah is to remain in its territory in the south and Joseph’s family in their territory in the north.(C) 6 When you have written a description of the seven portions of land and brought it to me, I will cast lots(D) for you here in the presence of the Lord our God.(E) 7 But the Levites among you do not get a portion, because their inheritance is the priesthood of the Lord.(F) Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have taken their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses the Lord’s servant gave them.”
8 As the men prepared to go, Joshua commanded them[a] to write down a description of the land, saying, “Go and survey the land, write a description of it, and return to me. I will then cast lots for you here in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord.” 9 So the men left, went through the land, and described it by towns in a document of seven sections. They returned to Joshua at the camp in Shiloh. 10 Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord where he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their divisions.
Benjamin’s Inheritance
11 The lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans, and their allotted territory lay between Judah’s descendants and Joseph’s descendants.
12 Their border on the north side began at the Jordan, ascended to the slope of Jericho on the north, through the hill country westward, and ended at the wilderness around Beth-aven.(G) 13 From there the border went toward Luz, to the southern slope of Luz (that is, Bethel); it then went down by Ataroth-addar, over the hill south of Lower Beth-horon.(H)
14 On the west side, from the hill facing Beth-horon on the south, the border curved, turning southward, and ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the descendants of Judah. This was the west side of their border.
15 The south side began at the edge of Kiriath-jearim, and the border extended westward; it went to the spring at the Waters of Nephtoah. 16 The border descended to the foot of the hill that faces Ben Hinnom Valley at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. It ran down Hinnom Valley toward the south Jebusite slope and downward to En-rogel. 17 It curved northward and went to En-shemesh and on to Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and continued down to the Stone of Bohan(I) son of Reuben. 18 Then it went north to the slope opposite the Arabah[b] and proceeded into the plains.[c] 19 The border continued to the north slope of Beth-hoglah and ended at the northern bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the southern border.
20 The Jordan formed the border on the east side.
This was the inheritance of Benjamin’s descendants, by their clans, according to its surrounding borders.
Benjamin’s Cities
21 These were the cities of the tribe of Benjamin’s descendants by their clans:
Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve cities, with their settlements; 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus[d] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath[e]—fourteen cities, with their settlements.
This was the inheritance for Benjamin’s descendants by their clans.
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