Beginning
Land for Simeon's tribe
19 The second part of the land was for Simeon's tribe, clan by clan. Their land was in the middle of Judah's land. 2 It included these towns:
Beersheba (also called Sheba), Moladah, 3 Hazar-Shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar-Susah, 6 Beth Lebaoth and Sharuhen.
There were 13 towns and their villages.
7 He also gave them Ain, Rimmon, Ether and Ashan.
There were four towns and their villages. 8 This included all the villages near them as far as Baalath Beer (also called Ramah, in the Negev).
That was the land that Joshua gave to the families of Simeon's tribe. 9 Because Judah had received more land than they needed, Joshua took some of their land for Simeon. So Simeon's tribe lived inside the land that Joshua had given to Judah.[a]
Land for Zebulun's tribe
10 The next part of the land was for Zebulun's tribe, clan by clan. The border of their land went as far as Sarid. 11 Then it went west to Maralah, it touched Dabbesheth, and it went to the valley near Jokneam. 12 From Sarid their border went east to the land of Kisloth Tabor. Then it went to Daberath and it continued up to Japhia. 13 From there, it went east to Gath Hepher and Eth Kazin. It went on to Rimmon, and turned to go to Neah. 14 The border went north to Hannathon and stopped at the valley of Iphtah El. 15 Their land included these towns: Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem.
There were 12 towns and their villages.
16 That was the land that Joshua gave to the families of Zebulun's tribe, as well as the towns and their villages.
Land for Issachar's tribe
17 The next part of the land was for Issachar's tribe, clan by clan. 18 Their land included Jezreel, Kesulloth, Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah and Beth Pazzez. 22 The border of their land touched Tabor, Shahazumah and Beth Shemesh. It ended at the Jordan River.
There were 16 towns and their villages.
23 That was the land that Joshua gave to the families of Issachar's tribe, as well as the towns and their villages.
Land for Asher's tribe
24 The next part of the land was for Asher's tribe, clan by clan. 25 Their land included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Acshaph, 26 Allammelech, Amad and Mishal. The west border of their land touched Carmel and Shihor Libnath. 27 Then it went east towards Beth Dagon, to touch Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah El. Then their border went north to Beth Emek and Neiel. It continued to Cabul in the north. 28 It went to Abdon, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon. 29 Then the border turned towards Ramah, and it went as far as the strong city of Tyre. Then it turned to Hosah and it ended at the Mediterranean Sea. Their towns included Hebel, Aczib, 30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob. They received 22 towns and their villages.
31 That was the land that Joshua gave to the families of Asher's tribe, as well as the towns and their villages.
Land for Naphtali's tribe
32 The sixth part of the land was for Naphtali's tribe, clan by clan.
33 The border of their land went from Heleph and the big oak tree in Zaanannim. It went to Adami Nekeb and Jabneel, and it continued to Lakkum. It ended at the Jordan River. 34 The border turned west to Aznoth Tabor and it continued to Hukkok. It touched Zebulun's land on its south side, Asher's land on its west side and the Jordan River on its east side. 35 Their land included these strong cities: Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath and Kinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, 38 Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath and Beth Shemesh. They received 19 towns and their villages.
39 That was the land that Joshua gave to the families of Naphtali's tribe, as well as the towns and their villages.
Land for Dan's tribe
40 The seventh part of the land was for Dan's tribe, clan by clan. 41 Their land included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath-Rimmon, 46 Me Jarkon and Rakkon. They also received land in front of Joppa.
47 (But later, the people of Dan failed to take their land and keep it. So they went to attack Leshem. They took the town and they killed its people. Then they lived there themselves. They called the city Dan, after their ancestor.)
48 That was the land that Joshua gave to the families of Dan's tribe, as well as the towns and their villages.
Land for Joshua
49 When all the tribes had received their part of the land, the Israelites gave to Joshua, son of Nun, some land for himself. 50 This is what the Lord had told them to do. Joshua asked to have Timnah Serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So they gave it to him. He built up the town and he lived in it.
51 That is the list of all the pieces of land that each tribe received. Eleazar the priest, Joshua, son of Nun, and the Israelite leaders used lots to decide which part of the land was for each tribe. They did this in Shiloh, in front of the Tent of Meeting. The Lord was there with them. In that way, they finished giving each tribe a part of the land.
Safe cities
20 Then the Lord said to Joshua, 2 ‘Tell the Israelite people to choose special cities as safe places. I told Moses that you should do this. 3 Anyone can be safe in these cities if he has killed someone but he did not mean to kill. A person like that must run to one of these towns and he will be safe from the dead person's relative.[b]
4 The person who killed someone must go to the special city. When he arrives, he must stand at the gate of the city. There he must tell the leaders what he has done. Then they must take him into the city. They must give him a place to stay so that he can live there. 5 The dead person's relative may chase after the killer. The leaders of the city must not let him hurt the killer. This is because the killer did not mean to kill. 6 The killer must stay inside that city. The judges there will decide if he is not guilty of murder. Then he must wait until the leader of the priests dies. After that, he is free to return to the town that he came from.’
7 So they chose these towns: Kedesh in Galilee (in the hill country of Naphtali), Shechem (in the hill country of Ephraim), and Kiriath Arba (that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah).
8 They also chose these towns beyond Jericho, on the east side of Jordan River: Bezer (in the flat desert land of Reuben), Ramoth in Gilead (on Gad's land), Golan in Bashan (on Manasseh's land).
9 Any Israelite or foreign person living in Israel could run to these cities and be safe. They may have killed someone, but they did not mean to kill them. If they run to these cities, the dead person's relative could not kill them. The judges in the city had to decide whether a killer was guilty of murder. Nobody could kill them before the judges decided.
Towns for the Levites
21 The leaders of the Levite families came to speak to Joshua, son of Nun. Eleazar the priest and the leaders of the other tribes were also there. 2 They met at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. The Levites said, ‘The Lord told Moses that you must give us towns to live in, as well as land for our animals.’[c]
3 So the Israelites did as the Lord had told them. They gave to the Levites towns to live in and land for their animals. They gave these from their own land.
4 They gave towns first to the clans of Kohath. They gave 13 towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. They gave these to Levites who were descendants of Aaron, the priest. 5 They also gave to the other descendants of Kohath, towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and the west half of Manasseh.
6 Then they gave 13 towns to the descendants of Gershon. Those towns came from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the east half of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 They gave 12 towns to the descendants of Merari. Those towns came from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.
8 In that way, the Israelites gave these towns to the Levites, as well as land for their animals. They used lots to do it. They did as the Lord had told Moses to do.
9 These are the names of the towns that the tribes of Simeon and Judah gave to the Levites. 10 The Kohathite clans who were descendants of Aaron received these towns, because God chose them first.
11 They received Kiriath Arba (or Hebron), with land near to it, in the hill country of Judah. Arba was the father of Anak. 12 But the fields and villages near Hebron belonged to Caleb, son of Jephunneh. 13 Hebron was one of the safe cities. The descendants of Aaron, the priest, received Hebron, Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh, as well as their fields. These two tribes gave them nine towns. 17 Benjamin's tribe also gave four towns to them: Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth and Almon, as well as their fields.
19 So the priests, descendants of Aaron, received 13 towns with their fields.
20 The tribe of Ephraim gave some towns to Levites from other clans of Kohath. 21 They gave them Shechem, a safe city, in the hill country of Ephraim, as well as Gezer, 22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon, with their fields. That was four towns. 23 The tribe of Dan gave them Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon, and Gath-Rimmon. That was another four towns with their fields. 25 The west half tribe of Manasseh gave them Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their fields. That was two towns.
26 So these Kohathite clans received ten towns with their fields.
27 The Levites from the clans of Gershon received these towns. The east half tribe of Manasseh gave them Golan in Bashan, a safe city, and Be Eshtarah. That was two towns, as well as their fields. 28 The tribe of Issachar gave them Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth and En Gannim, with their fields. That was another four towns. 30 The tribe of Asher gave them Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath and Rehob, with their fields. That was four more towns. 32 The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee, a safe city, Hammoth Dor and Kartan, with their fields. That was three towns.
33 So the clans of Gershon received 13 cities with their fields.
34 The other Levites were from the clan of Merari. The tribe of Zebulun gave them Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah and Nahalal. That was four towns, as well as their fields. 36 The tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath, with their fields. That was four towns. 38 The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead, a safe city, Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon and Jazer, with their fields. That was four more towns.
40 So the clans of Merari received 12 towns. That was all the Levite clans.
41 The Levites received 48 towns in the land of the Israelite people. 42 Each of these towns had its own fields round it, for animals to eat the grass.
43 That is how the Lord gave the land to all the Israelite people. He had promised their ancestors that he would give the land to them. They took it from the people who had lived there, and then they lived there themselves. 44 The Lord let them live there safely, as he had promised to their ancestors. The Lord made them stronger than their enemies, so nobody could attack them. 45 The Lord did all the good things that he had promised to do for the people of Israel. He did not fail to do anything that he had promised.
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