Joshua 21
Christian Standard Bible
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.”(A) 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(B) (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,(C) 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[a] 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,(D) 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,(E) 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(F) with its pasturelands, Jahzah[b] with its pasturelands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities.[c]
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.(G) 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.(H)
Yehoshua 21
Orthodox Jewish Bible
21 Then came near the Rashei Avot Levi’im unto Eleazar HaKohen, and unto Yehoshua ben Nun, and unto the Rashei Avot of the tribes of the Bnei Yisroel;
2 And they spoke unto them at Shiloh in Eretz Kena’an, saying, Hashem commanded by the yad Moshe to give us towns to dwell in, with the migrashim thereof for our livestock.
3 And the Bnei Yisroel gave unto the Levi’im out of their nachalah, at the commandment of Hashem, these towns and their migrashim.
4 And the goral (lot) came out for the mishpekhot of the Kehati. And the Bnei Aharon HaKohen, which were of the Levi’im, had by lot 13 towns out of the tribe of Yehudah, and out of the tribe of Shim’on, and out of the tribe of Binyamin.
5 And the rest of the Bnei Kehat had by goral out of the mishpekhot of the tribe of Ephrayim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Menasheh, 10 towns.
6 And the Bnei Gershon had by goral out of the mishpekhot of the tribe of Yissakhar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Menasheh in Bashan, 13 towns.
7 The Bnei Merari by their mishpekhot had out of the tribe of Reuven, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zevulun, 12 towns.
8 And the Bnei Yisroel gave by goral unto the Levi’im these towns with their migrashim, just as Hashem commanded by the yad Moshe.
9 And they allotted out of the tribe of the Bnei Yehudah, and out of the tribe of the Bnei Shim’on, these towns which are here called b’shem (by name),
10 Which the Bnei Aharon, being of the mishpekhot of the Kehati, who were of the Bnei Levi, had; for theirs was the goral rishonah.
11 And they gave them Kiryat-Arba (Arba, Avi HaAnak), which is Chevron, in the har Yehudah, with the migrash (pastureland) thereof around it.
12 But the sadeh haIr, and the villages thereof, they gave to Kalev ben Yephunneh for his achuzzah (possession, property, estate).
13 Thus they gave to the Bnei Aharon HaKohen Chevron with its migrash, to be an Ir Miklat HaRotzeiach (City of Refuge of the Slayer); and Livnah with its migrash,
14 And Yatir with its migrashim, and Eshtemoa with its migrash,
15 And Cholon with its migrash, and Devir with its migrash,
16 And Ayin with its migrash, and Yutah with its migrash, and Beit Shemesh with its migrash; 9 towns out of those two shevatim (tribes).
17 And out of the tribe of Binyamin, Giveon with its migrash, Geva with its migrash,
18 Anatot with its migrash, and Almon with its migrash; 4 towns.
19 All the towns of the Bnei Aharon, the Kohanim, were 13 towns with their migrash.
20 And the mishpekhot of the Bnei Kehat, the Levi’im which remained of the Bnei Kehat, even they had the towns of their goral out of the tribe of Ephrayim.
21 For they gave them Shechem with its migrash in har Ephrayim, to be an Ir Miklat HaRotzeiach; and Gezer with its migrash,
22 And Kivtzayim with its migrash, and Beit Choron with its migrash; 4 towns.
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its migrash, Gibbeton with its migrash,
24 Ayalon with its migrash, Gat-Rimmon with its migrash; 4 towns.
25 And out of the half-tribe of Menasheh, Tanach with its migrash, and Gat-Rimmon with its migrash; 2 towns.
26 All the towns were 10 with their migrash for the mishpekhot of the Bnei Kehat that remained.
27 And unto the Bnei Gershon, of the mishpekhot Levi’im, out of the other half tribe of Menasheh they gave Golan in Bashan with its migrash, to be an Ir Miklat HaRotzeiach; and Be’eshterah with its migrash; 2 towns.
28 And out of the tribe of Yissakhar, Kishyon with its migrash, Dovrat with its migrash,
29 Yarmut with its migrash, Ein Gannim with its migrash; 4 towns.
30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its migrash, Avdon with its migrash,
31 Chelkat with its migrash, and Rechov with its migrash; 4 towns.
32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in the Galil with its migrash, to be an Ir Miklat HaRotzeiach; and Chammmot Dor with its migrash, and Kartan with its migrash; 3 towns.
33 All the towns of the Gershuni according to their mishpekhot were 13 towns with their migrash.
34 And unto the mishpekhot Bnei Merari, the rest of the Levi’im, out of the tribe of Zevulun, Yokneam with its migrash, and Kartah with its migrash,
35 Dimnah with its migrash, Nahalal with its migrash; 4 towns.
36 And out of the tribe of Reuven, Betzer with its migrash, and Yachtzah with its migrash,
37 Kedemot with its migrash, and Mephaat with its migrash; 4 towns.
38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramot in Gil‘ad with its migrash, to be an Ir Miklat HaRotzeiach; and Machanayim with its migrash,
39 Cheshbon with its migrash, Yazer with its migrash; 4 towns in all.
40 So all the towns for the Bnei Merari by their mishpekhot, which were remaining of the mishpekhot Levi’im, were by their goral 12 towns.
41 All the towns of the Levi’im within the achuzzat Bnei Yisroel (possession, estate of the Sons of Israel) were 48 towns with their migrashim.
42 These towns were every one with their migrash around them; thus were all these towns.
43 And Hashem gave unto Yisroel Kol HaAretz which He swore to give unto their Avot; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
44 And Hashem gave them manoach (rest, peace) on every side, according to all that He swore unto their Avot; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; Hashem delivered all their enemies into their yad.
45 There naphal (failed, fell) not davar mikol hadavar hatov (any promise from all the good promises) which Hashem had spoken unto Bais Yisroel; hakol bo (all came, all came to pass).
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