^2 (A)“Command the children of Israel that they give the Levites cities to dwell in from the inheritance of their possession, and you shall also give the Levites ^(B)common-land around the cities.

^3 (A)For Moses had given the inheritance of the two tribes and the half-tribe on the other side of the Jordan; but to the Levites he had given no inheritance among them. ⁴ For ^(B)the children of Joseph were two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. And they gave no part to the Levites in the land, except ^(C)cities to dwell in, with their common-lands for their livestock and their property.

⁸ by the border of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be ^(A)the district which you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length the same as one of the other portions, from the east side to the west, with the ^(B)sanctuary in the center.

¹⁰ Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that ^(A)he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. ^11 (B)If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? ¹² If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?

^(C)Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things ^(D)lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. ^13 (E)Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the ^(F)temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? ¹⁴ Even so ^(G)the Lord has commanded ^(H)that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.

²² Moreover, apart from the possession of the Levites and the possession of the city which are in the midst of what belongs to the prince, the area between the border of Judah and the border of ^(A)Benjamin shall belong to the prince.

The Holy District

45 “Moreover, when you ^(A)divide the land by lot into inheritance, you shall ^(B)set apart a district for the Lord, a holy section of the land; its length shall be twenty-five thousand cubits, and the width ten thousand. It shall be holy throughout its territory all around. ² Of this there shall be a square plot for the sanctuary, ^(C)five hundred by five hundred rods, with fifty cubits around it for an open space. ³ So this is the district you shall measure: twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide; ^(D)in it shall be the sanctuary, the Most Holy Place. ⁴ It shall be ^(E)a holy section of the land, belonging to the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who come near to minister to the Lord; it shall be a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary. ^5 (F)An area twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide shall belong to the Levites, the ministers of the ^[a]temple; they shall have ^(G)twenty^[b] chambers as a possession.

Properties of the City and the Prince

^6 (H)“You shall appoint as the property of the city an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand long, adjacent to the district of the holy section; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.

^7 (I)“The prince shall have a section on one side and the other of the holy district and the city’s property; and bordering on the holy district and the city’s property, extending westward on the west side and eastward on the east side, the length shall be side by side with one of the tribal portions, from the west border to the east border. ⁸ The land shall be his possession in Israel; and ^(J)My princes shall no more oppress My people, but they shall give the rest of the land to the house of Israel, according to their tribes.”

² And they spoke to them at ^(A)Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, ^(B)“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 ^(C)the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, ^(D)had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin. ^5 (E)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 ^(F)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 (G)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 (H)And the children of Israel gave these cities with their common-lands by lot to the Levites, ^(I)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 ^[a]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 (J)And they gave them ^[b]Kirjath Arba (Arba was the father of ^(K)Anak), ^(L)which is Hebron, in the mountains of Judah, with the common-land surrounding it. ¹² But ^(M)the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ Thus ^(N)to the children of Aaron the priest they gave ^(O)Hebron with its common-land (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^(P)Libnah with its common-land, ^14 (Q)Jattir with its common-land, ^(R)Eshtemoa with its common-land, ^15 (S)Holon with its common-land, ^(T)Debir with its common-land, ^16 (U)Ain with its common-land, ^(V)Juttah with its common-land, and ^(W)Beth Shemesh with its common-land: nine cities from those two tribes; ¹⁷ and from the tribe of Benjamin, ^(X)Gibeon with its common-land, ^(Y)Geba with its common-land, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its common-land, and ^(Z)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 (AA)And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, the rest of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their ^[c]lot from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ For they gave them ^(AB)Shechem with its common-land in the mountains of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the slayer), ^(AC)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 (AD)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 (AE)Also to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave ^(AF)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, ^(AG)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 (AH)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 [d]and from the tribe of Reuben, ^(AI)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, ^(AJ)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 (AK)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.

³² Nevertheless ^(A)the cities of the Levites, and the houses in the cities of their possession, the Levites may redeem at any time. ³³ And if a man purchases a house from the Levites, then the house that was sold in the city of his possession shall be released in the Jubilee; for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the children of Israel. ³⁴ But ^(B)the field of the common-land of their cities may not be ^(C)sold, for it is their perpetual possession.