Joshua 18
Modern English Version
Dividing the Rest of the Land
18 The whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land was subdued before them. 2 Yet seven tribes among the children of Israel remained who had not yet received their inheritance.
3 So Joshua said to the children of Israel, “How long will you delay going in to possess the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Select three men from each tribe, and I will send them out; and they will rise and go throughout the land, and describe it according to their inheritance, and they will come back to me. 5 They shall divide it into seven portions. Judah will stay in their territory in the south, and the house of Joseph will stay in their territory in the north. 6 So describe the land in seven portions and return to me. Then I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 Yet there is no portion for the Levites among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have acquired their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”
8 So the men got up and left. Joshua commanded those who were leaving to survey the land, saying, “Go and walk back and forth throughout the land. Write a description of it, then return to me. Here in Shiloh I will cast lots for you before the Lord.” 9 The men went and passed through the land. In a book they wrote a description of it by cities in seven portions, and they came back to Joshua at the Shiloh settlement. 10 Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. There Joshua apportioned the land for the children of Israel according to their divisions.
The Allotment for Benjamin
11 The lot of the tribe of Benjamin, according to their clans, came up. The territory allotted to it fell between Judah and Joseph.
12 Their northern border goes from the Jordan up the northern slope of Jericho. It runs westward into the hill country and extends to the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border passes from there southward toward Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel), and descends to Ataroth Addar on the hill south of lower Beth Horon.
14 On the western side, the border turns south from the hill that lies to the south near Beth Horon, and it extends to Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city belonging to Judah. This is the western border.
15 The southern border starts from Kiriath Jearim and goes out westward to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 The border then descends to the foot of the mountain that lies by the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of Rephaim. It descends from the Hinnom Valley to the slope of the Jebusites, then down to En Rogel. 17 The border runs north and goes out to En Shemesh and Geliloth, which is opposite the Ascent of Adummim, and descends to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 18 It passes toward the slope north of the Beth Arabah and descends to the Arabah. 19 The border passes north of the slope of Beth Hoglah, and it runs out to the northern tip of the Dead Sea at the southern end of the Jordan. This is the southern border.
20 The Jordan forms the eastern boundary.
This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to their clans, by its boundaries all around.
21 The cities belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, according to their clans, were Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba: twelve cities with their villages.
25 Also there were Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath: fourteen cities with their villages.
This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to their clans.
Joshua 18
Authorized (King James) Version
18 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled together at Shiloh, and set up the tabernacle of the congregation there. And the land was subdued before them. 2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. 3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the Lord God of your fathers hath given you? 4 Give out from among you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come again to me. 5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north. 6 Ye shall therefore describe the land into seven parts, and bring the description hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. 7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.
8 And the men arose, and went away: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, that I may here cast lots for you before the Lord in Shiloh. 9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came again to Joshua to the host at Shiloh. 10 And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.
11 And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the coast of their lot came forth between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph. 12 And their border on the north side was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north side, and went up through the mountains westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven. 13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which is Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that lieth on the south side of the nether Beth-horon. 14 And the border was drawn thence, and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which is Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter. 15 And the south quarter was from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah: 16 and the border came down to the end of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, and which is in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to En-rogel, 17 and was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which is over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 18 and passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah: 19 and the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this was the south coast. 20 And Jordan was the border of it on the east side. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the coasts thereof round about, according to their families.
21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz, 22 and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el, 23 and Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah, 24 and Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; 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 Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath, and Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.
KJV reproduced by permission of Cambridge University Press, the Crown’s patentee in the UK.