Joshua 15
Good News Translation
The Territory Assigned to Judah
15 The families of the tribe of Judah received a part of the land described as follows:
The land reached south to the southernmost point of the wilderness of Zin, at the border of Edom. 2 This southern border ran from the south end of the Dead Sea, 3 went southward from the Akrabbim Pass and on to Zin. It ran south of Kadesh Barnea, past Hezron and up to Addar, turned toward Karka, 4 went on to Azmon, and followed the stream on the border of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, where the border ended. That was the southern border of Judah.
5 The eastern border was the Dead Sea, all the way up to the inlet where the Jordan empties into it.
The northern border began there, 6 extended up to Beth Hoglah, and went north of the ridge overlooking the Jordan Valley. Then it went up to the Stone of Bohan (Bohan was a son of Reuben), 7 from Trouble Valley up to Debir, and then turned north toward Gilgal, which faces Adummim Pass on the south side of the valley. It then went on to the springs of Enshemesh, out to Enrogel, 8 and up through Hinnom Valley on the south side of the hill where the Jebusite city of Jerusalem was located. The border then proceeded up to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley, at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. 9 From there it went to the Springs of Nephtoah and out to the cities near Mount Ephron. There it turned toward Baalah (or Kiriath Jearim), 10 where it circled west of Baalah toward the hill country of Edom, went on the north side of Mount Jearim (or Chesalon), down to Beth Shemesh, and on past Timnah. 11 The border then went out to the hill north of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, past Mount Baalah, and on to Jamnia. It ended at the Mediterranean Sea, 12 which formed the western border.
Within these borders lived the people of the families of Judah.
Caleb Conquers Hebron and Debir(A)
13 (B)As the Lord commanded Joshua, part of the territory of Judah was given to Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah. He received Hebron, the city belonging to Arba, father of Anak. 14 Caleb drove the descendants of Anak out of the city—the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. 15 From there he went to attack the people living in Debir. (This city used to be called Kiriath Sepher.) 16 Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who succeeds in capturing Kiriath Sepher.” 17 Othniel, the son of Caleb's brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage. 18 On the wedding day Othniel urged her[a] to ask her father for a field. She got down from her donkey, and Caleb asked her what she wanted. 19 She answered, “I want some water holes. The land you have given me is in the dry country.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.
The Cities of Judah
20 This is the land that the families of the tribe of Judah received as their possession. 21 The cities farthest south that belonged to them, those that were near the border of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24 Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (or Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Bethpelet, 28 Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31 Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: twenty-nine cities in all, along with the towns around them.
33 The cities in the foothills were Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, Engannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35 Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities, along with the towns around them.
37 There were also Zenan, Hadashah, Migdalgad, 38 Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel, 39 Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gederoth, Bethdagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities, along with the towns around them.
42 There were also Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44 Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities, along with the towns around them.
45 There was Ekron with its towns and villages, 46 and all the cities and towns near Ashdod, from Ekron to the Mediterranean Sea.
47 There were Ashdod and Gaza, with their towns and villages, reaching to the stream on the border of Egypt and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
48 In the hill country there were Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath Sepher (or Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoa, Anim, 51 Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities, along with the towns around them.
52 There were Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah, Hebron, and Zior: nine cities, along with the towns around them.
55 There were Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities, along with the towns around them.
58 There were Halhul, Bethzur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Bethanoth, and Eltekon: six cities, along with the towns around them.
60 There were Kiriath Baal (or Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah: two cities, along with the towns around them.
61 In the desert there were Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, Salt City, and Engedi: six cities, along with the towns around them.
63 (C)But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.
Footnotes
- Joshua 15:18 Probable text (see Jg 1.14) Othniel urged her; Hebrew she urged Othniel.
Joshua 15
Living Bible
15 The Land Given to the Tribe of Judah (as assigned by sacred lot): Judah’s southern boundary began at the northern border of Edom, crossed the wilderness of Zin, and ended at the northern edge of the Negeb. 2-4 More specifically, this boundary began at the south bay of the Dead Sea, ran along the road going south of Mount Akrabbim, on into the wilderness of Zin to Hezron (south of Kadesh-barnea), and then up through Karka and Azmon, until it finally reached the brook of Egypt, and along that to the Mediterranean Sea.
5 The eastern boundary extended along the Dead Sea to the mouth of the Jordan River.
The northern boundary began at the bay where the Jordan River empties into the Salt Sea, 6 crossed to Beth-hoglah, then proceeded north of Beth-arabah to the stone of Bohan (son of Reuben). 7 From that point it went through the valley of Achor to Debir, where it turned northwest toward Gilgal, opposite the slopes of Adummim on the south side of the valley. From there the border extended to the springs at En-shemesh and on to En-rogel. 8 The boundary then passed through the valley of Hinnom, along the southern shoulder of Jebus (where the city of Jerusalem is located), then west to the top of the mountain above the valley of Hinnom, and on up to the northern end of the valley of Rephaim. 9 From there the border extended from the top of the mountain to the spring of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron before it turned northward to circle around Baalah (which is another name for Kiriath-jearim). 10-11 Then the border circled west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passed along to the town of Chesalon on the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim, and went down to Beth-shemesh. Turning northwest again, the boundary line proceeded past the south of Timnah to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, where it bent to the left, passing south of Shikkeron and Mount Baalah. Turning again to the north, it passed Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.
12 The western border was the shoreline of the Mediterranean.
13 The Land Given to Caleb: The Lord instructed Joshua to assign some of Judah’s territory to Caleb (son of Jephunneh), so he was given the city of Arba (also called Hebron), which had been named after Anak’s father. 14 Caleb drove out the descendants of the three sons of Anak: Talmai, Sheshai, and Ahiman. 15 Then he fought against the people living in the city of Debir (formerly called Kiriath-sepher).
16 Caleb said that he would give his daughter Achsah to be the wife of anyone who would go and capture Kiriath-sepher. 17 Othniel (son of Kenaz), Caleb’s nephew, was the one who conquered it, so Achsah became Othniel’s wife. 18-19 As she was leaving with him, she urged him to ask her father for an additional field as a wedding present.[a] She got off her donkey to speak to Caleb about this.
“What is it? What can I do for you?” he asked.
And she replied, “Give me another present! For the land you gave me is a desert. Give us some springs too!” Then he gave her the upper and lower springs.
20 So this was the assignment of land to the tribe of Judah:
21-32 The cities of Judah which were situated along the borders of Edom in the Negeb, namely: Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (or, Hazor), Amam, Shema, Moladah, Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah, Baalah, Iim, Ezem, Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon. In all, there were twenty-nine of these cities with their surrounding villages.
33-36 The following cities situated in the lowlands were also given to Judah: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim. In all, there were fourteen of these cities with their surrounding villages.
37-44 The tribe of Judah also inherited twenty-five other cities with their villages:[b] Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, Makkedah, Libnah, Ether, Ashan, Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah.
45 The territory of the tribe of Judah also included all the towns and villages of Ekron. 46 From Ekron the boundary extended to the Mediterranean and included the cities along the borders of Ashdod with their nearby villages; 47 also the city of Ashdod with its villages, and Gaza with its villages as far as the brook of Egypt; also the entire Mediterranean coast from the mouth of the brook of Egypt on the south to Tyre on the north.
48-62 Judah also received these forty-four cities in the hill country with their surrounding villages:[c] Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (or Debir), Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, Goshen, Holon, Giloh, Arab, Dumah, Eshan, Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, Humtah, Kiriath-arba (or, Hebron), Zior, Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah, Timnah, Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, Maarath, Beth-anoth, Eltekon, Kiriath-baal (also known as Kiriath-jearim), Rabbah, Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, Nibshan, The City of Salt, and En-gedi.
63 But the tribe of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites who lived in the city of Jerusalem, so the Jebusites live there among the people of Judah to this day.
Footnotes
- Joshua 15:18 as a wedding present, implied.
- Joshua 15:37 The tribe of Judah also inherited twenty-five other cities with their villages, implied; see vv. 41 and 44.
- Joshua 15:48 Judah also received these forty-four cities in the hill country with their surrounding villages, implied in vv. 51, 54, 57, 59, 60, and 62, where the original text indicates subtotals of the number of cities assigned to Judah.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.