Joshua 21:1-42
World English Bible
21 Then the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel. 2 They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “Yahweh commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.”
3 The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Yahweh, these cities with their pasture lands. 4 The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin. 5 The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh. 6 The children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. 7 The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun. 8 The children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levites, as Yahweh commanded by Moses. 9 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 mentioned by name: 10 and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot. 11 They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands around it. 12 But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession. 13 To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, 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 out of those two tribes. 17 Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities. 19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
20 The families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim. 21 They gave them Shechem with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth Horon with its pasture lands: four cities. 23 Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: four cities. 25 Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities. 26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their pasture lands.
27 They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two cities. 28 Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En Gannim with its pasture lands: four cities. 30 Out of 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 Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities. 33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.
34 To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of 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 Out of the tribe of Reuben, 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 Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands: four cities in all. 40 All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities.
41 All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. 42 Each of these cities included their pasture lands around them. It was this way with all these cities.
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Joshua 21:1-42
Modern English Version
Cities for the Levites(A)
21 The family leaders of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the family leaders of the Israelite tribes. 2 At Shiloh in the land of Canaan they said to them, “Through Moses the Lord commanded that we be given cities in which to live and grazing lands for our livestock.” 3 So according to the word of the Lord, out of their inheritance the children of Israel gave the Levites these cities and their grazing lands.
4 The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites, so the Levites who were descendants of Aaron received an allotment of thirteen cities from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. 5 The remaining descendants of Kohath received an allotment of ten cities from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
6 The descendants of Gershon received an allotment of thirteen cities from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 Descendants of Merari by their clans received an allotment of twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
8 The children of Israel allotted the Levites these cities and their grazing lands, as the Lord commanded through Moses.
9 From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they assigned the following cities with these names. 10 They were assigned to the descendants of Aaron, to the clans of the Kohathites of the tribe of Levi, for theirs was the first lot.
11 They assigned them Kiriath Arba (Arba was the father of Anak), which is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, and the grazing lands around it. 12 (Now they had assigned the city’s fields and its surrounding villages to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his property.)
13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they assigned Hebron (a refuge city for people who committed manslaughter), Libnah with its pastures, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth Shemesh, together with the grazing lands of each: nine cities from these two tribes.
17 From the tribe of Benjamin they assigned Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth, and Almon, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
19 Altogether the descendants of Aaron received thirteen cities and their grazing lands.
20 The rest of the Levites from the clans of the descendants of Kohath received cities allotted from the tribe of Ephraim.
21 They assigned them Shechem (a refuge city for people who committed manslaughter) in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer, 22 Kibzaim, and Beth Horon, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
23 From the tribe of Dan they assigned Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath Rimmon, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh they assigned Taanach and Gath Rimmon, together with the grazing lands of each: two cities.
26 Altogether the rest of the clans of the descendants of Kohath received ten cities and their grazing lands.
27 From the half-tribe of Manasseh they assigned to the descendants of Gershon (one of the Levite clans): Golan in Bashan (a refuge city for people who committed manslaughter) and Be Eshterah, together with the grazing lands of each: two cities.
28 From the tribe of Issachar they assigned Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth, and En Gannim, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
30 From the tribe of Asher they assigned Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath, and Rehob, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
32 From the tribe of Naphtali they assigned Kedesh in Galilee (a refuge city for people who committed manslaughter), Hammoth Dor, and Kartan, together with the grazing lands of each: three cities.
33 Altogether the Gershonites according to their clans received thirteen cities and their grazing lands.
34 From the tribe of Zebulun they assigned to the descendants of Merari (the remaining Levites): Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah, and Nahalal, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
36 From the tribe of Reuben they assigned Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities.
38 From the tribe of Gad they assigned Ramoth in Gilead (a refuge city for people who committed manslaughter), Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon, and Jazer, together with the grazing lands of each: four cities in all.
40 So twelve cities were allotted for the descendants of Merari according to their clans (the remaining Levite clans).
41 Altogether the Levites received forty-eight cities and their grazing lands within the possessions of the children of Israel. 42 Each of these cities had grazing lands surrounding them. It was this way with all these cities.
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