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^(J)), 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^[f]).

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,^{(K) 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,^{(L) 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,^{[g] 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^[h] 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,^(M) 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.^(N)

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.^{(O) 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,^(P) 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.^(Q) So they finished dividing up the land.

Cities of Refuge

20 Then the Lord spoke to Joshua, ² “Tell the Israelites: Select your cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses,^{(R) 3} so that a person who kills someone unintentionally or accidentally may flee there. These will be your refuge from the avenger of blood.^{(S) 4} When someone flees to one of these cities, stands at the entrance of the city gate, and states his case before the elders of that city, they are to bring him into the city and give him a place to live among them.^{(T) 5} And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they must not hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, for he killed his neighbor accidentally and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ He is to stay in that city until he stands trial before the assembly and until the death of the high priest serving at that time.^(U) Then the one who committed manslaughter may return home to his own city from which he fled.”

⁷ So they designated Kedesh in the hill country of Naphtali in Galilee,^(V) Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.^{(W) 8} Across the Jordan east of Jericho, they selected Bezer on the wilderness plateau from Reuben’s tribe, Ramoth in Gilead from Gad’s tribe, and Golan in Bashan from Manasseh’s tribe.

⁹ These are the cities appointed for all the Israelites and the aliens residing among them,^(X) so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there and not die at the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the assembly.

Cities of the Levites

21 The Levite family heads approached the priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the family heads of the Israelite tribes. ² At Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, they told them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”^{(Y) 3} So the Israelites, by the Lord’s command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.

⁴ The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of the priest Aaron received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵ The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ Gershon’s descendants received thirteen cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ Merari’s descendants received twelve cities for their clans from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸ The Israelites gave these cities with their pasturelands around them to the Levites by lot, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Cities of Aaron’s Descendants

⁹ The Israelites gave these cities by name from the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon ¹⁰ to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because they received the first lot. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba^(Z) (that is, Hebron; Arba was the father of Anak) with its surrounding pasturelands in the hill country of Judah. ¹² But they gave the fields and settlements of the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ They gave to the descendants of the priest Aaron:

Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands, ¹⁴ Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, ¹⁵ Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, ¹⁶ Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.

¹⁷ From the tribe of Benjamin they gave:

Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. ¹⁹ All thirteen cities with their pasturelands were for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

Cities of Kohath’s Other Descendants

²⁰ The allotted cities to the remaining clans of Kohath’s descendants, who were Levites, came from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ The Israelites gave them:

Shechem,^(AA) the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, ²² Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities.

²³ From the tribe of Dan they gave:

Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities.

²⁵ From half the tribe of Manasseh they gave:

Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath-rimmon^[i] with its pasturelands—two cities.

²⁶ All ten cities with their pasturelands were for the clans of Kohath’s other descendants.

Cities of Gershon’s Descendants

²⁷ From half the tribe of Manasseh, they gave to the descendants of Gershon,^(AB) who were one of the Levite clans:

Golan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in Bashan, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities.

²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar they gave:

Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.

³⁰ From the tribe of Asher they gave:

Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities.

³² From the tribe of Naphtali they gave:

Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities.

³³ All thirteen cities with their pasturelands were for the Gershonites by their clans.

Cities of Merari’s Descendants

³⁴ From the tribe of Zebulun, they gave to the clans of the descendants of Merari,^(AC) who were the remaining Levites:

Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities.

³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben they gave:

Bezer^(AD) with its pasturelands, Jahzah^[j] with its pasturelands, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.^[k]

³⁸ From the tribe of Gad they gave:

Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. ⁴⁰ All twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari’s descendants, the remaining Levite clans.

⁴¹ Within the Israelite possession there were forty-eight cities in all with their pasturelands for the Levites.^{(AE) 42} Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

The Lord’s Promises Fulfilled

⁴³ So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all he had sworn to their ancestors. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them. ⁴⁵ None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.^(AF)

Psalm 15

A Description of the Godly

A psalm of David.

The Parable of the Persistent Widow

18 Now he told them a parable on the need for them to pray^(A) always and not give up.^{(B) 2} “There was a judge in a certain town who didn’t fear God^(C) or respect people. ³ And a widow^(D) in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’

⁴ “For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or respect people, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps^(E) pestering me,^[a] I will give her justice, so that she doesn’t wear me out^[b] by her persistent coming.’”

⁶ Then the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ Will not God grant justice^(F) to his elect^(G) who cry out to him day and night?^(H) Will he delay^(I) helping them?^{[c] 8} I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes,^(J) will he find faith on earth?”

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

⁹ He^(K) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves^(L) that they were righteous^(M) and looked down^(N) on everyone else: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray,^(O) one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee was standing^(P) and praying like this about himself: ^[d] ‘God, I thank you that I’m not like other people—greedy,^(Q) unrighteous,^(R) adulterers,^(S) or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast^(T) twice a week; I give a tenth^[e](U) of everything I get.’

¹³ “But the tax collector, standing far off,^(V) would not even raise his eyes to heaven^(W) but kept striking his chest^(X) and saying, ‘God, have mercy on me,^[f](Y) a sinner!’ ^{(Z) 14} I tell you, this one went down to his house justified^(AA) rather than the other, because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”^(AB)

Blessing the Children

¹⁵ People^(AC) were bringing infants to him so that he might touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ Jesus, however, invited them: “Let the little children come to me,^(AD) and don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you,^(AE) whoever does not receive^(AF) the kingdom of God like a little child^(AG) will never enter it.”

The Rich Young Ruler

¹⁸ A^(AH) ruler^(AI) asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” ^(AJ)

¹⁹ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. ²⁰ You know the commandments: Do not commit adultery; do not murder; do not steal; do not bear false witness; honor your father and mother.”^[g](AK)

²¹ “I have kept all these from my youth,” he said.

²² When Jesus heard this, he told him, “You still lack one thing: Sell all you have and distribute it to the poor,^(AL) and you will have treasure in heaven.^(AM) Then come, follow me.”^(AN)

²³ After he heard this, he became extremely sad,^(AO) because he was very rich.

Possessions and the Kingdom

²⁴ Seeing that he became sad,^[h] Jesus said, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁶ Those who heard this asked, “Then who can be saved?” ^(AP)

²⁷ He replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”^(AQ)

²⁸ Then Peter said, “Look, we have left what we had and followed^(AR) you.”

²⁹ So he said to them, “Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers or sisters, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, ³⁰ who will not receive many times more at this time,^(AS) and eternal life in the age to come.”

The Third Prediction of His Death

³¹ Then^(AT) he took the Twelve aside and told them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem.^(AU) Everything that is written^(AV) through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished.^{(AW) 32} For he will be handed over to the Gentiles,^(AX) and he will be mocked,^(AY) insulted, spit^(AZ) on; ³³ and after they flog him, they will kill him, and he will rise on the third day.”^(BA)

³⁴ They understood none of these things.^(BB) The meaning of the saying^[i](BC) was hidden^(BD) from them, and they did not grasp what was said.

A Blind Man Receives His Sight

³⁵ As^(BE) he approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. ³⁶ Hearing a crowd passing by, he inquired what was happening. ³⁷ “Jesus of Nazareth^(BF) is passing by,” they told him.

³⁸ So he called out,^(BG) “Jesus, Son of David,^(BH) have mercy^(BI) on me!” ³⁹ Then those in front told him to keep quiet,^[j] but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to him. When he came closer, he asked him, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?”

“Lord,” he said, “I want to see.”

⁴² “Receive your sight,”^(BJ) Jesus told him. “Your faith has saved you.”^{(BK) 43} Instantly he could see, and he began to follow him, glorifying God.^(BL) All the people,^(BM) when they saw it, gave praise to God.