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Judah’s Tribal Lands

14 The following is a record of the territory assigned to the Israelites in the land of Canaan by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the Israelite tribal leaders.[a] The land assignments to the nine-and-a-half tribes were made by drawing lots, as the Lord had instructed Moses.[b] Now Moses had assigned land[c] to the two-and-a-half tribes east of the Jordan, but he assigned no land[d] to the Levites.[e] The descendants of Joseph were considered as two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites were allotted no territory, though they were assigned cities in which to live, along with the grazing areas for their cattle and possessions.[f] The Israelites followed the Lord’s instructions to Moses and divided up the land.[g]

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Footnotes

  1. Joshua 14:1 tn Heb “These are [the lands] which the sons of Israel received as an inheritance in the land of Canaan, which Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers of the tribes assigned as an inheritance to the sons of Israel.”
  2. Joshua 14:2 tn Heb “By lot was their inheritance, as the Lord had commanded by Moses, to the nine tribes and the half-tribe.”
  3. Joshua 14:3 tn Or “assigned an inheritance.”
  4. Joshua 14:3 tn Or “no inheritance.”
  5. Joshua 14:3 tn The Hebrew text adds, “in their midst.”
  6. Joshua 14:4 tn Heb “and they did not assign a portion to the Levites in the land, except cities [in which] to live and their pastures for their cattle and property.”
  7. Joshua 14:5 tn Heb “Just as the Lord had commanded Moses, so the sons of Israel did, and they divided up the land.”

The Land Divided West of the Jordan

14 The remaining tribes of Israel received land in Canaan as allotted by Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal leaders. These nine and a half tribes received their grants of land by means of sacred lots, in accordance with the Lord’s command through Moses. Moses had already given a grant of land to the two and a half tribes on the east side of the Jordan River, but he had given the Levites no such allotment. The descendants of Joseph had become two separate tribes—Manasseh and Ephraim. And the Levites were given no land at all, only towns to live in with surrounding pasturelands for their livestock and all their possessions. So the land was distributed in strict accordance with the Lord’s commands to Moses.

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