The Inheritance for Simeon

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, ^(A)and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah. ^2 (B)And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, 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 villages; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages, ⁸ together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans. ^9 (C)The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

The Inheritance for Zebulun

¹⁰ The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid. ¹¹ Then their boundary goes up ^(D)westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of ^(E)Jokneam. ¹² From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia. ¹³ From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah, ¹⁴ then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel; ¹⁵ and Kattath, Nahalal, ^(F)Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages. ¹⁶ This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans. ¹⁸ Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, ^(G)Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez. ²² The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Asher

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans. ²⁵ Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches ^(H)Carmel and Shihor-libnath, ²⁷ then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to ^(I)Cabul, ²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as ^(J)Sidon the Great. ²⁹ Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab,^[a] Achzib, ³⁰ Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Naphtali

³² The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans. ³³ And their boundary ran from Heleph, from ^(K)the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan. ³⁴ Then the boundary turns ^(L)westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan. ³⁵ The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, ^(M)Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, ^(N)Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸ Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities with their villages. ³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Dan

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans. ⁴¹ And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ^42 (O)Shaalabbin, ^(P)Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶ and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against ^(Q)Joppa. ⁴⁷ When ^(R)the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Joshua

⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ By command of the Lord they gave him the city that he asked, ^(S)Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

^51 (T)These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot ^(U)at Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

The Cities of Refuge

20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, ² “Say to the people of Israel, ^(V)‘Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³ that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there. They shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand ^(W)at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city. Then they shall take him into the city and give him a place, and he shall remain with them. ⁵ And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the manslayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unknowingly, and did not hate him in the past. ⁶ And he shall remain in that city ^(X)until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time. Then the manslayer may return to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.’”

⁷ So they set apart ^(Y)Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and ^(Z)Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and ^(AA)Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) ^(AB)in the hill country of Judah. ⁸ And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed ^(AC)Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and ^(AD)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^(AE)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel and ^(AF)for the stranger sojourning among them, that anyone who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.

Women Accompanying Jesus

8 Soon afterward he went on ^(A)through cities and villages, proclaiming and ^(B)bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, ² and also ^(C)some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: ^(D)Mary, called Magdalene, ^(E)from whom seven demons had gone out, ³ and ^(F)Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them^[a] out of their means.

The Parable of the Sower

^4 (G)And when a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to him, he said in a parable, ^5 (H)“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. ⁶ And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, ^(I)it withered away, because it had no moisture. ⁷ And some fell among ^(J)thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. ⁸ And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded ^(K)a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, ^(L)“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

The Purpose of the Parables

⁹ And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, ¹⁰ he said, ^(M)“To you it has been given to know ^(N)the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so ^(O)that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ ^11 (P)Now the parable is this: The seed is ^(Q)the word of God. ¹² The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not ^(R)believe and be saved. ¹³ And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it ^(S)with joy. But these have no root; they ^(T)believe for a while, and in time of testing ^(U)fall away. ¹⁴ And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but ^(V)as they go on their way they are choked by the ^(W)cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. ¹⁵ As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and ^(X)bear fruit ^(Y)with patience.