Joshua 21
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 21
Levitical Cities. 1 The heads of the Levite families[a] approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the heads of families of the other tribes of the Israelites(A) 2 at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, and said to them, “The Lord commanded, through Moses, that cities be given us to dwell in, with pasture lands for our livestock.”(B) 3 Out of their own heritage, according to the command of the Lord, the Israelites gave the Levites the following cities with their pasture lands.
4 When the first lot among the Levites fell to the clans of the Kohathites, the descendants of Aaron the priest obtained by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities. 5 From the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, the rest of the Kohathites obtained by lot ten cities.(C) 6 From the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, the Gershonites obtained by lot thirteen cities. 7 From the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun, the clans of the Merarites obtained twelve cities. 8 These cities with their pasture lands the Israelites gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
Cities of the Priests. 9 (D)From the tribes of the Judahites and Simeonites they gave the following cities 10 and assigned them to the descendants of Aaron in the Kohathite clan of the Levites, since the first lot fell to them: 11 first, Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the mountain region of Judah, with the adjacent pasture lands, 12 although the open country and villages belonging to the city had been given to Caleb, son of Jephunneh, as his holding.(E) 13 Thus to the descendants of Aaron the priest were given the city of refuge for homicides at Hebron, with its pasture lands; also, Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15 Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, 16 Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities from these two tribes. 17 From the tribe of Benjamin they obtained Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth(F) with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities. 19 These cities which with their pasture lands belonged to the priestly descendants of Aaron, were thirteen in all.
Cities of the Other Kohathites. 20 (G)The rest of the Kohathite clans among the Levites obtained by lot, from the tribe of Ephraim, four cities. 21 They were assigned, with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for homicides at Shechem in the mountain region of Ephraim; also Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands. 23 From the tribe of Dan they obtained Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands: four cities. 25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities. 26 These cities which with their pasture lands belonged to the rest of the Kohathite clans were ten in all.
Cities of the Gershonites. 27 (H)The Gershonite clan of the Levites received from the half-tribe of Manasseh the city of refuge for homicides at Golan in Bashan, with its pasture lands; and also Beth-Astharoth with its pasture lands: two cities. 28 From the tribe of Issachar they obtained Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands: four cities. 30 From the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31 Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four cities. 32 From the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge for homicides at Kedesh in Galilee, with its pasture lands; also Hammath with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. 33 The cities which belonged to the Gershonite clans, with their pasture lands, were thirteen in all.
Cities of the Merarites. 34 (I)The Merarite clans, the last of the Levites, received, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four cities. 36 Also, across the Jordan, from the tribe of Reuben, the city of refuge for homicides at Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four cities. 38 From the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge for homicides at Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands: four cities in all. 40 The cities allotted to the Merarite clans, the last of the Levites, were therefore twelve in all.
41 Thus the total number of cities(J) within the territory of the Israelites which, with their pasture lands, belonged to the Levites, was forty-eight. 42 With each and every one of these cities went the pasture lands round about it.
43 And so the Lord gave Israel the entire land he had sworn to their ancestors he would give them.(K) Once they had taken possession of it, and dwelt in it, 44 the Lord gave them peace on every side, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of their enemies could withstand them; the Lord gave all their enemies into their power. 45 Not a single word of the blessing(L) that the Lord had promised to the house of Israel failed; it all came true.
Footnotes
- 21:1 The order to establish special cities for the Levites is given in Nm 35:1–8. The forty-eight cities listed here were hardly the exclusive possession of the Levites; at least the more important of them, such as Hebron, Shechem, and Ramoth in Gilead, were certainly peopled for the most part by the tribe in whose territory they were situated. But in all these cities the Levites had special property rights which they did not possess in other cities; cf. Lv 25:32–34.
Joshua 21
King James Version
21 Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;
2 And they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.
3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the Lord, these cities and their suburbs.
4 And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.
5 And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.
6 And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.
7 The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.
8 And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses.
9 And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name.
10 Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.
11 And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.
12 But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.
13 Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,
14 And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs,
15 And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs,
16 And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.
17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,
18 Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.
19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.
21 For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,
22 And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbs; four cities.
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs,
24 Aijalon with her suburbs, Gathrimmon with her suburbs; four cities.
25 And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities.
26 All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.
27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities.
28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs,
29 Jarmuth with her suburbs, Engannim with her suburbs; four cities.
30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs,
31 Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities.
32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammothdor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities.
33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.
34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs,
35 Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities.
36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,
37 Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities.
38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,
39 Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all.
40 So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.
41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.
42 These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities.
43 And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
44 And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.
45 There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Joshua 21
Expanded Bible
Towns for the Levites
21 The heads of the ·Levite families [L fathers of the Levites] went to talk to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the ·families [fathers] of all the tribes of Israel. 2 At Shiloh in the land of Canaan, they said to them, “The Lord commanded Moses that you give us towns where we may live and pastures for our animals.” 3 So the Israelites obeyed this command of the Lord and gave the Levite people these towns and pastures ·for their own land [L from their own inheritance/possessions]: 4 The Kohath ·family groups [clans] were part of the tribe of Levi [C the three sons of Levi were Kohath, Gershom, and Merari; Ex. 6:16; Num. 3:17]. Some of the Levites in the Kohath ·family groups [clans] were from the family of Aaron the priest. To these Levites were ·given [allotted; given by lot] thirteen towns in the areas of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The ·other family groups [L rest of the sons/descendants] of Kohath were given ten towns in the areas of Ephraim, Dan, and ·West [L the half-tribe of] Manasseh.
6 The ·people from the Gershon family groups [L sons/descendants of Gershom] were given thirteen towns ·in the land [L from the clans of the tribe] of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the East Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The ·family groups [L clans of the sons/descendants] of Merari were given twelve towns in the areas of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 So the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] gave the Levites these towns and the pastures around them, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.
9 These are the names of the towns that came from the ·lands [L tribe of the sons/descendants] of Judah and Simeon. 10 The first ·choice of towns [L lot] was given to the Kohath ·family groups [clans] of the Levites. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, also called Hebron, and all its pastures in the ·mountains [hill country] of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.) 12 But the fields and the villages around Kiriath Arba had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh [L as his possession].
13 So they gave the city of Hebron to the descendants of Aaron (Hebron was a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer]). They also gave them the towns of Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, and all the pastures around them. Nine towns were given from these two tribes.
17 ·They also gave the people of Aaron these cities that belonged to [L And from] the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth, and Almon. They gave them these four towns and the pastures around them.
19 So these thirteen towns with their pastures were given to the priests, who were from the ·family [L sons; descendants] of Aaron.
20 The other Kohathite ·family groups [clans] of the Levites were ·given [allotted] these towns from the tribe of Ephraim: 21 Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim (which was a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Gezer, 22 Kibzaim, and Beth Horon. There were four towns and their pastures.
23 The tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon. There were four towns and their pastures.
25 ·West [L The half-tribe of] Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath Rimmon and the pastures around these two towns.
26 So these ten towns and the pastures around them were given to the rest of the Kohathite ·family groups [clans].
27 The Gershonite ·family groups [clans] of the Levite tribe were given these towns: ·East [L The half-tribe of] Manasseh gave them Golan in Bashan, which was a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer], and Be Eshtarah, and the pastures around these two towns.
28 The tribe of Issachar gave them Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth, and En Gannim, and the pastures around these four towns.
30 The tribe of Asher gave them Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath, and Rehob, and the pastures around these four towns.
32 The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee (a city of ·safety [refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, and the pastures around these three towns.
33 So the Gershonite ·family groups [clans] received thirteen towns and the pastures around them.
34 The Merarite ·family groups [clans] (the rest of the Levites) were given these towns: The tribe of Zebulun gave them Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah, and Nahalal, and the pastures around these four towns.
36 The tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath, along with the pastures around these four towns.
38 The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead (a city of ·safety [L refuge for the killer/manslayer]), Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon, and Jazer, and the pastures around these four towns.
40 So the total number of towns given to the Merarite ·family groups [clans] was twelve.
41 A total of forty-eight towns with their pastures in the ·land [L midst of the possession of the sons/T children of Israel] of Israel were given to the Levites. 42 Each town had pastures around it [L this was true of all the cities].
43 So the Lord gave ·the people [L Israel] all the land he had promised their ancestors. The people took the land and lived there. 44 The Lord gave them ·peace [rest] on all sides, as he had ·promised [sworn to] their ancestors. None of their enemies ·defeated [could resist] them; the Lord handed all their enemies ·over to them [L into their hands]. 45 He kept every promise he had made to the Israelites; each one came true.
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