Joshua 12-15

Easy-to-Read Version

Kings Defeated by Israel

12 The Israelites had taken control of the land east of the Jordan River. They had all the land from Arnon Ravine to Mount Hermon and all the land along the eastern side of the Jordan Valley. These are all the kings the Israelites defeated to take this land:

² They defeated King Sihon of the Amorites living in the city of Heshbon. He ruled the land from Aroer at the Arnon Ravine to the Jabbok River. His land started in the center of that ravine. This was their border with the Ammonites. Sihon ruled over half of the land of Gilead. ³ He also ruled over the eastern side of the Jordan Valley from Lake Galilee to the Dead Sea (Salt Sea). And he ruled from Beth Jeshimoth to the south to the hills of Pisgah.

⁴ They also defeated King Og of Bashan. Og was from the Rephaites. He ruled the land in Ashtaroth and Edrei. ⁵ Og ruled over Mount Hermon, Salecah, and all the area of Bashan. His land ended where the people of Geshur and Maacah lived. Og also ruled half of the land of Gilead. This land ended at the land of King Sihon of Heshbon.

⁶ The Lord’s servant Moses and the Israelites defeated all these kings. And Moses gave that land to the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. Moses gave them this land to be their own.

⁷ Joshua and the Israelites defeated the kings of the land west of the Jordan River. This land was in the area west of Baal Gad in the Lebanon Valley as far as Mount Halak that rises toward Seir. Joshua divided it among the tribes. ⁸ This included the hill country, the western foothills, the Jordan Valley, the eastern mountains, the desert, and the Negev. This was where the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites had lived. These are the kings the Israelites defeated:

The total number of kings was 31.

Land Not Yet Taken

13 When Joshua was very old, the Lord said to him, “Joshua you have grown old, but there is still much land for you to take control of. ² You have not yet taken the land of Geshur or the land of the Philistines. ³ You have not yet taken the area from the Shihor River^[a] at Egypt to the border of Ekron and the land further north. That land still belongs to the Canaanites. You must still defeat the five Philistine leaders at Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. You must also defeat the Avvites ⁴ who live south of the Canaanite land. And you must still go north to take Mearah, which the Sidonians control. From there you must still go as far as Aphek on the Amorite border. ⁵ You have not yet defeated the area of the Gebalites. And also there is the area of Lebanon east of Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Lebo Hamath.

⁶ “The people of Sidon are living in the hill country from Lebanon to Misrephoth Maim. But I will force them out for the Israelites. Be sure to remember this land when you divide the land among the Israelites. Do this as I told you. ⁷ Now divide the land among the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.”

Dividing the Land

⁸ The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh had already received all their land. The Lord’s servant, Moses, gave them the land east of the Jordan River. ⁹ Their land started at Aroer by the Arnon Ravine and continued to the town in the middle of the ravine. And it included the whole plain from Medeba to Dibon. ¹⁰ All the towns that King Sihon of the Amorites ruled were in that land. He ruled in the city of Heshbon. The land continued to the area where the Ammonites lived. ¹¹ Also the town of Gilead was in that land. And the area where the people of Geshur and Maacah lived was in that land. All of Mount Hermon and all of Bashan as far as Salecah was in that land. ¹² All the kingdom of King Og was in that land. King Og ruled in Bashan. In the past he ruled in Ashtaroth and Edrei. Og was from the Rephaites. In the past Moses had defeated those people and had taken their land. ¹³ The Israelites did not force out the people of Geshur and Maacah. They still live among the Israelites today.

¹⁴ The tribe of Levi is the only tribe that did not get any land. Instead, the Levites were given all the animals offered by fire to the Lord, the God of Israel. That is what the Lord promised them.

¹⁵ Moses had given each family group from the tribe of Reuben some land. This is the land they received: ¹⁶ It was the land from Aroer near the Arnon Ravine to the town of Medeba. This included the whole plain and the town in the middle of the ravine. ¹⁷ The land continued to Heshbon. It included all the towns on the plain. Those towns were Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baal Meon, ¹⁸ Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath, ¹⁹ Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley, ²⁰ Beth Peor, the hills of Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth. ²¹ So that land included all the towns on the plain and all the area that King Sihon of the Amorites had ruled. He ruled in the town of Heshbon, but Moses had defeated him and the leaders of the Midianites. Those leaders were Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. (They all fought together with Sihon.) All of them lived in that country. ²² The Israelites defeated Balaam son of Beor. (Balaam tried to use magic to tell the future.) The Israelites killed many people during the fighting. ²³ The land that was given to Reuben stopped at the shore of the Jordan River. So the land that was given to the family groups of Reuben included all these towns and their fields that were listed.

²⁴ This is the land Moses gave to the tribe of Gad. He gave this land to each tribe:

²⁵ He gave them the land of Jazer, all the towns of Gilead, and half of the land of the Ammonites that went as far as Aroer near Rabbah. ²⁶ Their land included the area from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpah and Betonim, from Mahanaim to the land of Debir, ²⁷ the valley of Beth Haram, Beth Nimrah, Succoth and Zaphon, including the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon, along the Jordan all the way up to Lake Galilee on the eastern side of the river. ²⁸ All this land is the land Moses gave the family groups of Gad. That land included all the towns that were listed. Moses gave that land to each family group.

²⁹ This is the land Moses gave to half the tribe of Manasseh. Half of all the families in the tribe of Manasseh got this land:

³⁰ The land started at Mahanaim. The land included all of Bashan, all the land ruled by King Og of Bashan, and all the towns of Jair in Bashan. (In all, there were 60 cities.) ³¹ The land also included half of Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei. (Gilead, Ashtaroth, and Edrei were the cities where King Og had lived.) All this land was given to the family of Makir son of Manasseh. Half of all his sons got this land.

³² Moses gave all this land to these tribes. He did this while the people were camped on the plains of Moab. This was across the Jordan River, east of Jericho. ³³ Moses did not give any land to the tribe of Levi. The Lord, God of Israel, promised that he himself would be the gift for the tribe of Levi.

14 Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of all the tribes of Israel decided what land to give to the people. ² The Lord had commanded Moses long ago how he wanted the people to choose their land. The people of the nine and a half tribes threw lots to decide which land they would get. ³ Moses had already given the two and a half tribes their land east of the Jordan River. The tribe of Levi did not receive any land like the other tribes. ⁴ The descendants of Joseph had divided into two tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. Each of these tribes received some land; the tribe of Levi was not given any land. They were given only some towns scattered throughout the other tribes and some fields around those towns for their animals. ⁵ The Lord had told Moses how to divide the land among the tribes of Israel. The Israelites divided the land the way the Lord had commanded.

Caleb Gets His Land

⁶ One day some people from the tribe of Judah went to Joshua at Gilgal. One of them was Caleb, the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. Caleb said to Joshua, “You remember what the Lord said at Kadesh Barnea. The Lord was speaking to Moses, his servant.^[b] The Lord was talking about you and me. ⁷ Moses, the Lord’s servant, sent me to look at the land where we were going. I was 40 years old at that time. When I came back, I told Moses what I thought about the land. ⁸ The other men who went with me told the people things that made them afraid. But I really believed that the Lord would allow us to take that land. ⁹ So that day Moses made a promise to me. He said, ‘The land where you went will become your land. Your children will own that land forever. I will give you that land because you really believed in the Lord, my God.’

¹⁰ “Now the Lord has kept me alive for 45 more years—as he said he would. During that time we all wandered in the desert. Now, here I am, 85 years old. ¹¹ I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. I am as ready to fight as I was then. ¹² So give me the hill country that the Lord promised me that day long ago. At that time you heard that the strong Anakites lived there and the cities were very big and well protected. But now, maybe the Lord will be with me, and I will take that land just as the Lord said.”

¹³ Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh. Joshua gave him the city of Hebron as his own. ¹⁴ And that city still belongs to the family of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite. That land still belongs to his people because he trusted and obeyed the Lord, God of Israel. ¹⁵ In the past that city was called Kiriath Arba. It was named for the greatest man among the Anakites—a man named Arba.

After this there was peace in the land.

Land for Judah

15 The land that was given to Judah was divided among the families of that tribe. That land went to the border of Edom and south all the way to the desert of Zin at the edge of Teman. ² The southern border of Judah’s land started at the south end of the Dead Sea. ³ The border went south to Scorpion Pass and continued on to Zin. Then the border continued south to Kadesh Barnea. It continued past Hezron to Addar. From Addar the border turned and continued to Karka. ⁴ The border continued to Azmon, the brook of Egypt, and then to the Mediterranean Sea. All that land was on their southern border.

⁵ Their eastern border was the shore of the Dead Sea to the area where the Jordan River flowed into the sea.

Their northern border started at the area where the Jordan River flowed into the Dead Sea. ⁶ Then the northern border went to Beth Hoglah and continued north of Beth Arabah. The border continued to the stone of Bohan. (Bohan was the son of Reuben.) ⁷ Then the northern border went through the Valley of Achor to Debir. There the border turned to the north and went to Gilgal. Gilgal is across from the road that goes through the mountain of Adummim. It is on the south side of the brook. The border continued along the waters of En Shemesh. The border stopped at En Rogel. ⁸ Then the border went through the Valley of Ben Hinnom beside the southern side of the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem). There the border went to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley. This was at the northern end of Rephaim Valley. ⁹ From there the border went to the spring of water of Nephtoah. Then the border went to the cities near Mount Ephron. There the border turned and went to Baalah. (Baalah is also called Kiriath Jearim.) ¹⁰ At Baalah the border turned west and went to the hill country of Seir. The border continued along the north side of Mount Jearim (Kesalon) and continued down to Beth Shemesh. From there the border went past Timnah. ¹¹ Then the border went to the hill north of Ekron. From there the border turned to Shikkeron and went past Mount Baalah. The border continued on to Jabneel and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. ¹² The Mediterranean Sea was the western border. So the land of Judah was inside these four borders. The families of Judah lived in this area.

¹³ The Lord had commanded Joshua to give Caleb son of Jephunneh part of the land in Judah. So Joshua gave Caleb the land God had commanded. Joshua gave him the town of Kiriath Arba, that is, Hebron. (Arba was the father of Anak.) ¹⁴ Caleb forced the three Anakite families living in Hebron to leave there. Those families were Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. They were from the family of Anak. ¹⁵ Then Caleb fought against the people living in Debir. (In the past, Debir was also called Kiriath Sepher.) ¹⁶ Caleb said, “I will give my daughter in marriage to the man who attacks and conquers Kiriath Sepher.”

¹⁷ Othniel was the son of Caleb’s brother Kenaz. Othniel defeated that city, so Caleb gave his daughter Acsah to Othniel to be his wife. ¹⁸ Acsah went to live with Othniel. Othniel told Acsah^[c] to ask her father Caleb for some more land. Acsah went to her father. When she got off her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”

¹⁹ Acsah answered, “Give me a blessing.^[d] You gave me dry desert land in the Negev. Please give me some land with water on it.” So Caleb gave her what she wanted. He gave her the upper and lower pools of water in that land.

²⁰ The tribe of Judah got the land that God promised them. Each family group got part of the land.

²¹ The tribe of Judah got all the towns in the southern part of the Negev. These towns were near the border of Edom. Here is a list of the towns:

³³ The tribe of Judah also got these towns in the western foothills:

³⁷ The tribe of Judah was also given these towns:

⁴² The people of Judah also got these towns:

⁴⁸ The people of Judah were also given these towns in the hill country:

⁵² The people of Judah were also given these towns:

⁵⁵ The people of Judah were also given these towns:

⁵⁸ The people of Judah were also given these towns:

⁶¹ The people of Judah were also given these towns in the desert:

⁶³ The army of Judah was not able to force out the Jebusites living in Jerusalem. So today there are still Jebusites living among the people of Judah in Jerusalem.