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.

Simeon’s Inheritance

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of his descendants by their clans, but their inheritance was within the inheritance given to Judah’s descendants. ² Their inheritance included

Beer-sheba (or Sheba^(A)), Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶ Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities, with their settlements; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities, with their settlements; ⁸ and all the settlements surrounding these cities as far as Baalath-beer (Ramah in the south^[a]).

This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon’s descendants by their clans. ⁹ The inheritance of Simeon’s descendants was within the territory of Judah’s descendants, because the share for Judah’s descendants was too large. So Simeon’s descendants received an inheritance within Judah’s portion.

Zebulun’s Inheritance

¹⁰ The third lot came up for Zebulun’s descendants by their clans.

The territory of their inheritance stretched as far as Sarid; ¹¹ their border went up westward to Maralah, reached Dabbesheth, and met the brook east of Jokneam. ¹² From Sarid, it turned due east along the border of Chisloth-tabor, went to Daberath, and went up to Japhia. ¹³ From there, it went due east to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin; it extended to Rimmon, curving around to Neah. ¹⁴ The border then circled around Neah on the north to Hannathon and ended at Iphtah-el Valley, ¹⁵ along with Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities, with their settlements.

¹⁶ This was the inheritance of Zebulun’s descendants by their clans, these cities, with their settlements.

Issachar’s Inheritance

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans.

¹⁸ Their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem,^{(B) 19} Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. ²² The border reached Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan—sixteen cities, with their settlements.

²³ This was the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar’s descendants by their clans, the cities, with their settlements.

Asher’s Inheritance

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans.

²⁵ Their boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal and reached westward to Carmel and Shihor-libnath. ²⁷ It turned eastward to Beth-dagon, reached Zebulun and Iphtah-el Valley, north toward Beth-emek and Neiel, and went north to Cabul,^{(C) 28} Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, as far as greater Sidon. ²⁹ The boundary then turned to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre; it turned back to Hosah and ended at the Mediterranean Sea, including Mahalab, Achzib,^{[b] 30} Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two cities, with their settlements.

³¹ This was the inheritance of the tribe of Asher’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their settlements.

Naphtali’s Inheritance

³² The sixth lot came out for Naphtali’s descendants by their clans.

³³ Their boundary went from Heleph and from the oak in Zaanannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan. ³⁴ To the west, the boundary turned to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok, reaching Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah^[c] at the Jordan on the east. ³⁵ The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities, with their settlements.

³⁹ This was the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali’s descendants by their clans, the cities with their settlements.

Dan’s Inheritance

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan’s descendants by their clans.

⁴¹ The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon,^(D) Ithlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the territory facing Joppa.^(E)

⁴⁷ When the territory of the descendants of Dan slipped out of their control, they went up and fought against Leshem, captured it, and struck it down with the sword. So they took possession of it, lived there, and renamed Leshem after their ancestor Dan.^{(F) 48} This was the inheritance of the tribe of Dan’s descendants by their clans, these cities with their settlements.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the land into its territories, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them. ⁵⁰ By the Lord’s command, they gave him the city Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim,^(G) which he requested. He rebuilt the city and lived in it.

⁵¹ These were the portions that the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads distributed to the Israelite tribes by lot at Shiloh in the Lord’s presence at the entrance to the tent of meeting.^(H) So they finished dividing up the land.

¹⁶ Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said, “Fellow Israelites, and you who fear God, listen!^{(A) 17} The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, made the people prosper during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty^[a] arm.^{(B) 18} And for about forty years he put up with them^[b] in the wilderness;^{(C) 19} and after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,^(D) he gave them their land as an inheritance. ²⁰ This all took about 450 years. After this, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.^{(E) 21} Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.^{(F) 22} After removing him,^(G) he raised up David as their king and testified about him, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my own heart,^[c](H) who will carry out all my will.’

²³ “From this man’s descendants, as he promised, God brought to Israel^(I) the Savior, Jesus.^[d]

¹⁶ This is why the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace,^(A) to guarantee it to all the descendants^(B)—not only to the one who is of the law^[a] but also to the one who is of Abraham’s faith. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: I have made you the father of many nations^[b](C)—in the presence of the God in whom he believed,the one who gives life to the dead^(D) and calls^(E) things into existence that do not exist.^{(F) 18} He believed, hoping against hope, so that he became the father of many nations^[c](G) according to what had been spoken: So will your descendants be.^{[d](H) 19} He did not weaken in faith when he considered^[e] his own body to be already dead^(I) (since he was about a hundred years old)^(J) and also the deadness of Sarah’s womb.^{(K) 20} He did not waver in unbelief at God’s promise but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,^{(L) 21} because he was fully convinced^(M) that what God had promised, he was also able to do.^{(N) 22} Therefore, it was credited to him for righteousness.^[f](O)