Joshua 18:1-10

Expanded Bible

The Rest of the Land Divided

18 All of the Israelites [^Lthe whole congregation of the sons/^Tchildren of Israel] gathered together at Shiloh where they set up the Meeting Tent [Ex. 33:7–11]. The land was now under their control. ² But there were still seven tribes of Israel that had not yet received their ·land [inheritance].

³ So Joshua said to the ·Israelites [^Lsons/^Tchildren of Israel]: “·Why do you wait so long [^LHow long will you delay] to take your land? The Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given this land to you. ⁴ Choose three men from each tribe, and I will send them out to study the land. They will ·describe in writing [or make a map of] the land their tribe wants as its ·share [inheritance], and then they will come back to me. ⁵ They will divide the land into seven parts. Judah will keep their land in the south, and the ·people [house] of Joseph will keep their land in the north. ⁶ You should ·describe [or map out] the seven parts of land in writing and bring what you have written to me. Then I will ·throw [cast] lots in the presence of the Lord our God. ⁷ But the Levites do not ·get any part of these lands [have an allotment among you], because ·they are priests, and their work is to serve [^Ltheir portion/inheritance is the priesthood of] the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and ·East [the half-tribe of] Manasseh have received the ·land [inheritance] promised to them, which is east of the Jordan River. Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave it to them [Deut. 3:18–20].”

⁸ So the men who were chosen to map the land started out. Joshua told them, “Go and study the land and describe it in writing. Then come back to me, and I will ·throw [cast] lots in the presence of the Lord here in Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men left and ·went into [passed through] the land. They ·described [mapped out] in a scroll each town in the seven parts of the land. Then they came back to Joshua, who was still at the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ There Joshua ·threw [cast] lots in the presence of the Lord to ·choose [apportion] the lands that should be given to each tribe.