² “Command the Israelites to give, from the inheritance that they possess, towns for the Levites to live in; you shall also give to the Levites pasturelands surrounding the towns.^(A)

³ For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan, but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them.^{(A) 4} For the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim, and no portion was given to the Levites in the land but only towns to live in, with their pasturelands for their flocks and herds.^(B)

⁸ Adjoining the territory of Judah, from the east side to the west, shall be the portion that you shall set apart, twenty-five thousand cubits in width, and in length equal to one of the tribal portions, from the east side to the west, with the sanctuary in the middle of it.^(A)

¹⁰ Or does he not speak entirely for our sake? It was indeed written for our sake, for whoever plows should plow in hope and whoever threshes should thresh in hope of a share in the crop. ¹¹ If we have sown spiritual things among you, is it too much if we harvest material^[a] things?^{(A) 12} If others share this rightful claim on you, do not we still more?

Nevertheless, we have not made use of this right, but we endure anything rather than put an obstacle in the way of the gospel of Christ.^{(B) 13} Do you not know that those who work in the temple service get their food from the temple and those who serve at the altar share in what is sacrificed on the altar?^{(C) 14} In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.^(D)

²² and the property of the Levites and of the city, shall be in the middle of that which belongs to the prince. The portion of the prince shall lie between the territory of Judah and the territory of Benjamin.

The Holy District

45 “When you allot the land as an inheritance, you shall set aside for the Lord a portion of the land as a holy district, twenty-five thousand cubits long and twenty^[a] thousand cubits wide; it shall be holy throughout its entire extent. ² Of this, a square plot of five hundred by five hundred cubits shall be for the sanctuary, with fifty cubits for an open space around it. ³ In the holy district you shall measure off a section twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand wide, in which shall be the sanctuary, the most holy place. ⁴ It shall be a holy portion of the land; it shall be for the priests who minister in the sanctuary and approach the Lord to minister to him, and it shall be both a place for their houses and a holy place for the sanctuary.^{(A) 5} Another section, twenty-five thousand cubits long and ten thousand cubits wide, shall be for the Levites who minister at the temple, as their holding for cities to live in.^[b](B)

⁶ “Alongside the portion set apart as the holy district you shall assign as a holding for the city an area five thousand cubits wide and twenty-five thousand cubits long; it shall belong to the whole house of Israel.^(C)

⁷ “And to the prince shall belong the land on both sides of the holy district and the holding of the city, alongside the holy district and the holding of the city, on the west and on the east, corresponding in length to one of the tribal portions and extending from the western to the eastern boundary^{(D) 8} of the land. It is to be his property in Israel. And my princes shall no longer oppress my people, but they shall let the house of Israel have the land according to their tribes.^(E)

² they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given towns to live in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”^{(A) 3} So by command of the Lord the Israelites gave to the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their inheritance.

⁴ The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.^(B)

⁵ The rest of the Kohathites received by lot ten towns from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.^(C)

⁶ The Gershonites received by lot thirteen towns 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.^(D)

⁷ The Merarites according to their families received twelve towns from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun.^(E)

⁸ These towns and their pasturelands the Israelites gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.^(F)

⁹ Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following towns mentioned by name, ¹⁰ which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites who belonged to the Levites, since the lot fell to them first. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it.^{(G) 12} But the fields of the town and its villages had been given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his holding.

¹³ To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands,^{(H) 14} Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, ¹⁵ Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,^{(I) 16} Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine towns out of these two tribes.^{(J) 17} Out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four towns.^{(K) 19} The towns of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen in all, with their pasturelands.

²⁰ As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite families of the Levites, the towns allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,^{(L) 22} Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four towns. ²³ Out of the tribe of Dan: Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four towns. ²⁵ Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two towns. ²⁶ The towns of the families of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all, with their pasturelands.

²⁷ To the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two towns.^{(M) 28} Out of the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four towns. ³⁰ Out of the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four towns. ³² Out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three towns.^{(N) 33} The towns of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen, with their pasturelands.

³⁴ To the rest of the Levites—the Merarite families—were given out of the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,^{(O) 35} Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four towns. ³⁶ Out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands,^{(P) 37} Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four towns. ³⁸ Out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four towns in all. ⁴⁰ As for the towns of the several Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were twelve in all.

⁴¹ The towns of the Levites within the holdings of the Israelites were in all forty-eight towns with their pasturelands.^{(Q) 42} Each of these towns had its pasturelands around it; so it was with all these towns.

³² As for the cities of the Levites, the Levites shall forever have the right of redemption of the houses in the cities belonging to them.^{(A) 33} Whatever property of the Levites that may be redeemed, that is, houses sold in a city belonging to them, shall be released in the Jubilee, for the houses in the cities of the Levites are their possession among the Israelites. ³⁴ But the pasturelands around their cities may not be sold, for that is their possession for all time.