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21 Then the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “Yahweh commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.”

The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their pasture lands. The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin. The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh. The children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun. The children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levites, as Yahweh commanded by Moses. They gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are mentioned by name: 10 and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands around it. 12 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. 13 To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15 Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, 16 Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities out of those two tribes. 17 Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities. 19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

20 The families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 They gave them Shechem with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth Horon with its pasture lands: four cities. 23 Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: four cities. 25 Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities. 26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their pasture lands.

27 They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two cities. 28 Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En Gannim with its pasture lands: four cities. 30 Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31 Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four cities. 32 Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

34 To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four cities. 36 Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four cities. 38 Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands: four cities in all. 40 All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities.

41 All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42 Each of these cities included their pasture lands around them. It was this way with all these cities.

43 So Yahweh gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it. 44 Yahweh gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. Yahweh delivered all their enemies into their hand. 45 Nothing failed of any good thing which Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Cities for the Levites

21 The heads of the levitical families approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua, Nun’s son, and the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes. They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan: “The Lord gave a command through Moses to give us cities to live in and their pasturelands for our cattle.” So the Israelites gave the Levites the following cities and their pasturelands out of their own legacy. This was in agreement with the Lord’s command.

The lot went out for the clans of the Kohathites. The descendants of Aaron the priest from among the Levites acquired thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The rest of the descendants of Kohath acquired ten cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and half of Manasseh. The descendants of Gershon acquired thirteen cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half of Manasseh located in Bashan. The descendants of Merari acquired twelve cities for their clans from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. So the Israelites gave these cities and their pasturelands to the Levites by lot, exactly as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

They gave the following cities, identified here by name, from the tribe of the Judahites and the tribe of the Simeonites. 10 The cities belonged to the descendants of Aaron, one of the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the lot had fallen to them first. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the highlands of Judah and the pastures around it. (Arba was the father of Anak.) 12 But they had already given the fields of the city and its surrounding areas to Caleb, Jephunneh’s son, as his property. 13 To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave: Hebron, the refuge city for a killer, and its pastures; Libnah and its pastures; 14 Jattir and its pastures; Eshtemoa and its pastures; 15 Holon and its pastures; Debir and its pastures; 16 Ain and its pastures; Juttah and its pastures; and Beth-shemesh and its pastures. Total from these two tribes: nine cities. 17 From the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon and its pastures, Geba and its pastures, 18 Anathoth and its pastures, and Almon and its pastures. In total: four cities. 19 This is the total of all the cities of the priests descended from Aaron: thirteen cities with their pastures.

20 Other clans from the levitical descendants of Kohath still remained from among the descendants of Kohath. Some of their allotted cities were from the tribe of Ephraim. 21 They gave them: Shechem, the refuge city for a killer, and its pastures in the highlands of Ephraim; Gezer and its pastures; 22 Kibzaim and its pastures; and Beth-horon and its pastures; in total: four cities. 23 From the tribe of Dan: Elteke and its pastures, Gibbethon and its pastures, 24 Aijalon and its pastures, Gath-rimmon and its pastures; in total: four cities. 25 From half the tribe of Manasseh: Taanach and its pastures, and Gath-rimmon and its pastures; in total: two cities. 26 This is the total of all cities for the clans of the remaining descendants of Kohath: ten cities with their pastures.

27 To the descendants of Gershon, one of the clans of the Levites, from half the tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan, the refuge city for a killer, and its pastures; and Beeshterah and its pastures; in total: two cities. 28 From the tribe of Issachar: Kishion and its pastures, Daberath and its pastures, 29 Jarmuth and its pastures, En-gannim and its pastures; in total: four cities. 30 From the tribe of Asher: Mishal and its pastures, Abdon and its pastures, 31 Helkath and its pastures, and Rehob and its pastures; in total: four cities. 32 From the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, the refuge city for the killer, and its pastures; Hammoth-dor and its pastures; and Kartan and its pastures; in total: three cities. 33 This is the total of all cities of the Gershonites for their clans: thirteen cities with their pastures.

34 To the clans of the descendants of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam and its pastures, Kartah and its pastures, 35 Dimnah and its pastures, Nahalal and its pastures; in total: four cities. 36 From the tribe of Reuben: Bezer and its pastures, Jahaz and its pastures, 37 Kedemoth and its pastures, and Mephaath and its pastures; in total: four cities.[a] 38 From the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead, the refuge city for a killer, and its pastures; Mahanaim and its pastures; 39 Heshbon and its pastures; Jazer and its pastures; in total: four cities. 40 As for the cities of the descendants of Merari for their clans, the remaining clans of the Levites, their total allotment was twelve cities.

41 This is the total of all the cities of the Levites within the property of the Israelites: forty-eight cities with their pastures. 42 Each of these cities had its pastures around it. This was the case for all these cities.

Summary of the conquest

43 The Lord gave to Israel all the land he had pledged to give to their ancestors. They took it over and settled there. 44 The Lord gave them rest from surrounding danger, exactly as he had pledged to their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies held out against them. The Lord gave all their enemies into their power. 45 Not one of all the good things that the Lord had promised to the house of Israel failed. Every promise was fulfilled.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 21:37 LXX and 1 Chron 6:78-79 (Heb 6:63-64); some Heb manuscripts lack 21:36-37.