Joshua 19-23

New King James Version

Simeon’s Inheritance with Judah

19 The ^(A)second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families. ^(B)And their inheritance was within the inheritance of the children of Judah. ^2 (C)They had in 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 and their villages; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan: four cities and their villages; ⁸ and all the villages that were all around these cities as far as Baalath Beer, ^(D)Ramah of the South. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

⁹ The inheritance of the children of Simeon was included in the share of the children of Judah, for the share of the children of Judah was ^[a]too much for them. ^(E)Therefore the children of Simeon had their inheritance within the inheritance of ^[b]that people.

The Land of Zebulun

¹⁰ The third lot came out for the children of Zebulun according to their families, and the border of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. ^11 (F)Their border went toward the west and to Maralah, went to Dabbasheth, and extended along the brook that is ^(G)east of Jokneam. ¹² Then from Sarid it went eastward toward the sunrise along the border of Chisloth Tabor, and went out toward ^(H)Daberath, bypassing Japhia. ¹³ And from there it passed along on the east of ^(I)Gath Hepher, toward Eth Kazin, and extended to Rimmon, which borders on Neah. ¹⁴ Then the border went around it on the north side of Hannathon, and ^[c]it ended in the Valley of Jiphthah El. ¹⁵ Included were Kattath, Nahallal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem: twelve cities with their villages. ¹⁶ This was the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out to Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their families. ¹⁸ And their territory went to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Haphraim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Abez, ²¹ Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez. ²² And the border reached to Tabor, Shahazimah, and ^(J)Beth Shemesh; their border ended at the Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages. ²³ This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Asher

^24 (K)The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families. ²⁵ And their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Alammelech, Amad, and Mishal; it reached to ^(L)Mount Carmel westward, along the Brook Shihor Libnath. ²⁷ It turned toward the sunrise to Beth Dagon; and it reached to Zebulun and to the Valley of Jiphthah El, then northward beyond Beth Emek and Neiel, bypassing ^(M)Cabul which was on the left, ²⁸ including ^[d]Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah, ^(N)as far as Greater Sidon. ²⁹ And the border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and ended at the sea by the region of ^(O)Achzib. ³⁰ Also Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob were included: twenty-two cities with their villages. ³¹ This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

The Land of Naphtali

^32 (P)The sixth lot came out to the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their families. ³³ And their border began at Heleph, enclosing the territory from the terebinth tree in Zaanannim, Adami Nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; ^[e]it ended at the Jordan. ^34 (Q)From Heleph the border extended westward to Aznoth Tabor, and went out from there toward Hukkok; it adjoined Zebulun on the south side and Asher on the west side, and ended at Judah by the Jordan toward the sunrise. ³⁵ And the fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ^37 (R)Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemesh: nineteen cities with their villages. ³⁹ This was the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

The Land of Dan

^40 (S)The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families. ⁴¹ And the territory of their inheritance was Zorah, ^(T)Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ^42 (U)Shaalabbin, ^(V)Aijalon, Jethlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, ^(W)Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the region ^[f]near ^[g]Joppa. ⁴⁷ And the ^(X)border of the children of Dan went beyond these, because the children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it; and they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it. They called Leshem, ^(Y)Dan, after the name of Dan their father. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹ When they had ^[h]made an end of dividing the land as an inheritance according to their borders, the children of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. ⁵⁰ According to the word of the Lord they gave him the city which he asked for, ^(Z)Timnath ^(AA)Serah in the mountains of Ephraim; and he built the city and dwelt in it.

^51 (AB)These were the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel divided as an inheritance by lot ^(AC)in Shiloh before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the country.

The Cities of Refuge^(AD)

20 The Lord also spoke to Joshua, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: ^(AE)‘Appoint^[i] for yourselves cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, ³ that the slayer who kills a person accidentally or unintentionally may flee there; and they shall be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ And when he flees to one of those cities, and stands at the entrance of the gate of the city, and ^[j]declares his case in the hearing of the elders of that city, they shall take him into the city as one of them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them. ^5 (AF)Then if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not deliver the slayer into his hand, because he struck his neighbor unintentionally, but did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ And he shall dwell in that city ^(AG)until he stands before the congregation for judgment, and until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

⁷ So they appointed ^(AH)Kedesh in Galilee, in the mountains of Naphtali, ^(AI)Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim, and ^(AJ)Kirjath Arba (which is Hebron) in ^(AK)the mountains of Judah. ⁸ And on the other side of the Jordan, by Jericho eastward, they assigned ^(AL)Bezer in the wilderness on the plain, from the tribe of Reuben, ^(AM)Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and ^(AN)Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manasseh. ^9 (AO)These were the cities appointed for all the children of Israel and for the stranger who ^[k]dwelt among them, that whoever killed a person accidentally might flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood ^(AP)until he stood before the congregation.

Cities of the Levites^(AQ)

21 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the ^(AR)Levites came near to ^(AS)Eleazar the priest, to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. ² And they spoke to them at ^(AT)Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, ^(AU)“The Lord commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for our livestock.” ³ So the children of Israel gave to the Levites from their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their common-lands:

⁴ Now the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And ^(AV)the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, ^(AW)had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin. ^5 (AX)The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ And ^(AY)the children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

^7 (AZ)The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

^8 (BA)And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, ^(BB)as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.

⁹ So they gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these cities which are ^[l]designated by name, ¹⁰ which were for the children of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for the lot was theirs first. ^11 (BC)And they gave them ^[m]Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of ^(BD)Anak), ^(BE)which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it. ¹² But ^(BF)the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ Thus ^(BG)to the children of Aaron the priest they gave ^(BH)Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^(BI)Libnah with its common-land, ^14 (BJ)Jattir with its common-land, ^(BK)Eshtemoa with its common-land, ^15 (BL)Holon with its common-land, ^(BM)Debir with its common-land, ^16 (BN)Ain with its common-land, ^(BO)Juttah with its common-land, and ^(BP)Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes; ¹⁷ and from the tribe of Benjamin, ^(BQ)Gibeon with its common-land, ^(BR)Geba with its common-land, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its common-land, and ^(BS)Almon with its common-land: four cities. ¹⁹ All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

^20 (BT)And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their ^[n]lot from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ For they gave them ^(BU)Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^(BV)Gezer with its common-land, ²² Kibzaim with its common-land, and Beth Horon with its common-land: four cities; ²³ and from the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its common-land, Gibbethon with its common-land, ^24 (BW)Aijalon with its common-land, and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: four cities; ²⁵ and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with its common-land and Gath Rimmon with its common-land: two cities. ²⁶ All the ten cities with their common-lands were for the rest of the families of the children of Kohath.

^27 (BX)Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave ^(BY)Golan in Bashan with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), and Be Eshterah with its common-land: two cities; ²⁸ and from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its common-land, Daberath with its common-land, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its common-land, and En Gannim with its common-land: four cities; ³⁰ and from the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its common-land, Abdon with its common-land, ³¹ Helkath with its common-land, and Rehob with its common-land: four cities; ³² and from the tribe of Naphtali, ^(BZ)Kedesh in Galilee with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Hammoth Dor with its common-land, and Kartan with its common-land: three cities. ³³ All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their common-lands.

^34 (CA)And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its common-land, Kartah with its common-land, ³⁵ Dimnah with its common-land, and Nahalal with its common-land: four cities; ^36 [o]and from the tribe of Reuben, ^(CB)Bezer with its common-land, Jahaz with its common-land, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its common-land, and Mephaath with its common-land: four cities; ³⁸ and from the tribe of Gad, ^(CC)Ramoth in Gilead with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), Mahanaim with its common-land, ³⁹ Heshbon with its common-land, and Jazer with its common-land: four cities in all. ⁴⁰ So all the cities for the children of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.

^41 (CD)All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their common-lands. ⁴² Every one of these cities had its common-land surrounding it; thus were all these cities.

The Promise Fulfilled

⁴³ So the Lord gave to Israel ^(CE)all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they ^(CF)took possession of it and dwelt in it. ^44 (CG)The Lord gave them ^(CH)rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And ^(CI)not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. ^45 (CJ)Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Eastern Tribes Return to Their Lands

22 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, ² and said to them: “You have kept ^(CK)all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^(CL)and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you. ³ You have not ^[p]left your brethren these many days, up to this day, but have kept the charge of the commandment of the Lord your God. ⁴ And now the Lord your God has given ^(CM)rest to your brethren, as He promised them; now therefore, return and go to your tents and to the land of your possession, ^(CN)which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan. ⁵ But ^(CO)take^[q] careful heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, ^(CP)to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, to keep His commandments, to hold fast to Him, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” ⁶ So Joshua ^(CQ)blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their tents.

⁷ Now to half the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, ^(CR)but to the other half of it Joshua gave a possession among their brethren on this side of the Jordan, westward. And indeed, when Joshua sent them away to their tents, he blessed them, ⁸ and spoke to them, saying, “Return with much riches to your tents, with very much livestock, with silver, with gold, with bronze, with iron, and with very much clothing. ^(CS)Divide the ^[r]spoil of your enemies with your brethren.”

⁹ So the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh returned, and departed from the children of Israel at Shiloh, which is in the land of Canaan, to go to ^(CT)the country of Gilead, to the land of their possession, which they had obtained according to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

An Altar by the Jordan

¹⁰ And when they came to the region of the Jordan which is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh built an altar there by the Jordan—a great, impressive altar. ¹¹ Now the children of Israel ^(CU)heard someone say, “Behold, the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh have built an altar on the ^[s]frontier of the land of Canaan, in the region of the Jordan—on the children of Israel’s side.” ¹² And when the children of Israel heard of it, ^(CV)the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.

¹³ Then the children of Israel ^(CW)sent ^(CX)Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, into the land of Gilead, ¹⁴ and with him ten rulers, one ruler each from the chief house of every tribe of Israel; and ^(CY)each one was the head of the house of his father among the ^[t]divisions of Israel. ¹⁵ Then they came to the children of Reuben, to the children of Gad, and to half the tribe of Manasseh, to the land of Gilead, and they spoke with them, saying, ¹⁶ “Thus says the whole congregation of the Lord: ‘What ^(CZ)treachery^[u] is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built for yourselves an altar, ^(DA)that you might rebel this day against the Lord? ¹⁷ Is the iniquity ^(DB)of Peor not enough for us, from which we are not cleansed till this day, although there was a plague in the congregation of the Lord, ¹⁸ but that you must turn away this day from following the Lord? And it shall be, if you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow ^(DC)He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel. ^19 [v]Nevertheless, if the land of your possession is unclean, then cross over to the land of the possession of the Lord, ^(DD)where the Lord’s tabernacle stands, and take possession among us; but do not rebel against the Lord, nor rebel against us, by building yourselves an altar besides the altar of the Lord our God. ^20 (DE)Did not Achan the son of Zerah ^[w]commit a trespass in the ^[x]accursed thing, and wrath fell on all the congregation of Israel? And that man did not perish alone in his iniquity.’ ”

²¹ Then the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh answered and said to the heads of the ^[y]divisions of Israel: ²² “The Lord ^(DF)God of gods, the Lord God of gods, He ^(DG)knows, and let Israel itself know—if it is in rebellion, or if in treachery against the Lord, do not save us this day. ²³ If we have built ourselves an altar to turn from following the Lord, or if to offer on it burnt offerings or grain offerings, or if to offer peace offerings on it, let the Lord Himself ^(DH)require an account. ²⁴ But in fact we have done it ^[z]for fear, for a reason, saying, ‘In time to come your descendants may speak to our descendants, saying, “What have you to do with the Lord God of Israel? ²⁵ For the Lord has made the Jordan a border between you and us, you children of Reuben and children of Gad. You have no part in the Lord.” So your descendants would make our descendants cease fearing the Lord.’ ²⁶ Therefore we said, ‘Let us now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice, ²⁷ but that it may be ^(DI)a ^[aa]witness between you and us and our generations after us, that we may ^(DJ)perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings, with our sacrifices, and with our peace offerings; that your descendants may not say to our descendants in time to come, “You have no part in the Lord.” ’ ²⁸ Therefore we said that it will be, when they say this to us or to our generations in time to come, that we may say, ‘Here is the replica of the altar of the Lord which our fathers made, though not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices; but it is a witness between you and us.’ ²⁹ Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord, and turn from following the Lord this day, ^(DK)to build an altar for burnt offerings, for grain offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God which is before His tabernacle.”

³⁰ Now when Phinehas the priest and the rulers of the congregation, the heads of the ^[ab]divisions of Israel who were with him, heard the words that the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh spoke, it pleased them. ³¹ Then Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest said to the children of Reuben, the children of Gad, and the children of Manasseh, “This day we perceive that the Lord is ^(DL)among us, because you have not committed this treachery against the Lord. Now you have delivered the children of Israel out of the hand of the Lord.”

³² And Phinehas the son of Eleazar the priest, and the rulers, returned from the children of Reuben and the children of Gad, from the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the children of Israel, and brought back word to them. ³³ So the thing pleased the children of Israel, and the children of Israel ^(DM)blessed God; they spoke no more of going against them in battle, to destroy the land where the children of Reuben and Gad dwelt.

³⁴ The children of Reuben and the children of ^[ac]Gad called the altar, Witness, “For it is a witness between us that the Lord is God.”

Joshua’s Farewell Address

23 Now it came to pass, a long time after the Lord ^(DN)had given rest to Israel from all their enemies round about, that Joshua ^(DO)was old, advanced in age. ² And Joshua ^(DP)called for all Israel, for their elders, for their heads, for their judges, and for their officers, and said to them:

“I am old, advanced in age. ³ You have seen all that the ^(DQ)Lord your God has done to all these nations because of you, for the ^(DR)Lord your God is He who has fought for you. ⁴ See, ^(DS)I have divided to you by lot these nations that remain, to be an inheritance for your tribes, from the Jordan, with all the nations that I have cut off, as far as the Great Sea westward. ⁵ And the Lord your God ^(DT)will expel them from before you and drive them out of your sight. So you shall possess their land, ^(DU)as the Lord your God promised you. ^6 (DV)Therefore be very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the Book of the Law of Moses, ^(DW)lest you turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, ⁷ and lest you ^(DX)go^[ad] among these nations, these who remain among you. You shall not ^(DY)make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to ^(DZ)swear by them; you shall not ^(EA)serve them nor bow down to them, ⁸ but you shall ^(EB)hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. ^9 (EC)For the Lord has ^[ae]driven out from before you great and strong nations; but as for you, no one has been able to stand against you to this day. ^10 (ED)One man of you shall chase a thousand, for the Lord your God is He who fights for you, ^(EE)as He promised you. ^11 (EF)Therefore take careful heed to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God. ¹² Or else, if indeed you do ^(EG)go back, and cling to the remnant of these nations—these that remain among you—and ^(EH)make marriages with them, and go in to them and they to you, ¹³ know for certain that ^(EI)the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you. ^(EJ)But they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

¹⁴ “Behold, this day ^(EK)I^[af] am going the way of all the earth. And you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that ^(EL)not one thing has failed of all the good things which the Lord your God spoke concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one word of them has failed. ^15 (EM)Therefore it shall come to pass, that as all the good things have come upon you which the Lord your God promised you, so the Lord will bring upon you ^(EN)all harmful things, until He has destroyed you from this good land which the Lord your God has given you. ^16 [ag]When you have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed down to them, then the ^(EO)anger of the Lord will burn against you, and you shall perish quickly from the good land which He has given you.”