Beginning

Portions for Other Tribes

19 Then the second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their clans. Now their portion was in the midst of the portion of the children of Judah. ² They had for their inheritance: Beersheba (or Sheba), Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ El-tolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶ Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen—13 towns with their villages; ⁷ also Ain, Rimmon, Ether and Ashan—4 towns with their villages; ⁸ all the villages that were around these towns as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negev. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their clans. ⁹ The inheritance of the children of Simeon was taken out of the allotment of the children of Judah, for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them; so the children of Simeon had inheritance within Judah’s inheritance.

¹⁰ Now the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their clans. The territory of their inheritance was as far as Sarid. ¹¹ Their border went up westward to Maralah, then reached Dabbesheth, and on to the wadi alongside Jokneam. ¹² It turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrise to the border of Chisloth-tabor, then went on to Dobrath and up to Japhia. ¹³ From there it went east to Gath-hepher, to Ethkazin, and went on to Rimmon, where it curved to Neah. ¹⁴ Then the border circled around on the north to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtahel. ¹⁵ Included also were Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah and Bethlehem—12 towns with their villages. ¹⁶ This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their clans, these towns with their villages.

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the children of Issachar according to their clans. ¹⁸ Now their territory was to Jezreel, and included Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah and Beth-pazzez. ²² The border extended to Tabor, Shahazim, and Beth-shemesh, and ended at the Jordan—16 towns with their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their clans, the towns with their villages.

²⁴ Then the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their clans. ²⁵ Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allam-melech, Amad, and Mishal. It extended to Carmel westward and Shihor-libnath. ²⁷ Then it turned toward the sunrise to Beth-dagon, extended to Zebulun and to the Iphtahel Valley on the north toward Beth-emek and Neiel, then went on to Cabul on the north, ²⁸ then Ebron, Rehob, Hammon and Kanah, up to greater Sidon. ²⁹ Next the border turned to Ramah, then to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the border turned to Hosah and ended at the sea in the region of Achzib, ³⁰ Also included were Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—22 towns with their villages. ³¹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their clans, these towns with their villages.

³² The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, for the children of Naphtali according to their clans. ³³ Their border went from Heleph and from Elon-beza-anannim, including Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and ended at the Jordan. ³⁴ Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor, and went on from there to Hukok. It touched Zebulun on the south, touched Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan toward the east. ³⁵ The fortified cities were Ziddim-zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-Hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh—19 towns with their villages. ³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their clans, the towns with their villages.

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their clans. ⁴¹ The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶ and the Waters of Jarkon and Rakkon along the border opposite Joppa. ⁴⁷ The territory of the children of Dan slipped away from them, so the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem and captured it, and struck it with the edge of the sword, possessed it and settled in it, and called Leshem Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. ⁴⁸ This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their clans, these towns with their villages.

⁴⁹ When they had finished allotting the land for inheritance by its borders, Bnei-Yisrael gave a portion to Joshua son of Nun in their midst. ⁵⁰ According to the command of Adonai they gave him the city that he requested, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built up the city and lived in it.

⁵¹ These are the portions which Eleazar the kohen and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the ancestral houses of the tribes of Bnei-Yisrael distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before Adonai, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished apportioning the land.

Six Cities of Refuge

20 Then Adonai spoke to Joshua saying, ² “Speak to Bnei-Yisrael saying, ‘Designate your cities of refuge, about which I spoke to you through Moses. ³ So the manslayer who kills any person by mistake and without premeditation may flee there. They will be your refuge from the avenger of blood. ⁴ When one flees to one of those cities, he must stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and state his case in the hearing of the elders of that city. Then they are to take him into their city and give him a place to live among them. ⁵ Now if the blood avenger pursues him, then they will not hand the manslayer over to him, since he killed his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand. ⁶ So he will stay in that city until he can stand trial before the congregation, or until the death of the kohen gadol in those days. Then the manslayer may return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he had fled.’”

⁷ So they set apart 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 Across the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland from the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh. ⁹ These were the appointed cities for all Bnei-Yisrael and for the outsider who is dwelling among them, so that whoever kills any person unintentionally might flee there and not die by the hand of the blood avenger, before standing trial before the congregation.

Towns for the Levites

21 Then the heads of ancestral houses of the Levites approached Eleazar the kohen and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of ancestral houses of the tribes of Bnei-Yisrael, ² and they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan saying: “Adonai commanded through Moses to give us towns to live in, with their pastures for our cattle.” ³ So Bnei-Yisrael gave to the Levites from their inheritance, according to the command of Adonai, these towns and their pastures: ⁴ the lot came out for the clan of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the kohen, who were of the Levites, received 13 towns by lot from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Simeon and the tribe of Benjamin. ⁵ The rest of the children of Kohath received 10 towns by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh. ⁶ The children of Gershon received 13 towns by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Asher, the tribe of Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. ⁷ The children of Merari according to their clans received 12 towns from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad and the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸ So Bnei-Yisrael gave by lot to the Levites these towns with their pastures, as Adonai had commanded through Moses. ⁹ They gave from the tribe of the children of Judah and from the tribe of the children of Simeon these towns which are here mentioned by name. ¹⁰ They were for the children of Aaron, of the clans of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi, for theirs was the first lot: ¹¹ So they gave them Kiriath-arba, the father of Anak (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pastures. ¹² But the fields of the city and its villages they had already given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession. ¹³ But to the children of Aaron the kohen they assigned Hebron (the city of refuge for the manslayer) with its pastures, Libnah with its pastures, ¹⁴ Jattir with its pastures, Eshtemoa with its pastures, ¹⁵ Holon with its pastures, Debir with its pastures, ¹⁶ Ain with its pastures, Juttah with its pastures and Beth-shemesh with its pastures—9 towns from these two tribes.

¹⁷ Then from the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pastures, Geba with its pastures, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pastures and Almon with its pastures—4 towns. ¹⁹ All the towns of the kohanim, the children of Aaron, were 13 towns with their pastures.

²⁰ As for the other clans of the children of Kohath, the remaining Levites descended from the children of Kohath, the towns of their lot were from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ So they gave them Shechem (the city of refuge for the manslayer) with its pastures in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pastures, ²² Kibzaim with its pastures and Beth-horon with its pastures—4 towns.

²³ From the tribe of Dan: Elteke with its pastures, Gibbethon with its pastures, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pastures and Gath-rimmon with its pastures—4 towns. ²⁵ From the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pastures and Gath-rimmon with its pastures—2 towns. ²⁶ All the towns of the clans of the rest of the children of Kohath were 10 with their pastures.

²⁷ Now to the children of Gershon of the clans of the Levites: from the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan (the city of refuge for the manslayer) in Bashan with its pastures and Beeshterah with its pastures—2 towns. ²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pastures, Dobrath with its pastures, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pastures and En-gannim with its pastures—4 towns. ³⁰ From the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pastures, Abdon with its pastures, ³¹ Helkath with its pastures, and Rehob with its pastures—4 towns. ³² From the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh (the city of refuge for the manslayer) in Galilee with its pastures, Hammoth-dor with its pastures, Kartan with its pastures—3 towns. ³³ All the towns of the Gershonites according to their clans were 13 towns with their pastures.

³⁴ To the remaining Levites of the clans of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pastures, Kartah with its pastures, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pastures, and Nahalal with its pastures—4 towns. ³⁶ From the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pastures, Jahaz with its pastures, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its pastures and Mephaath with its pastures—4 cities. ³⁸ From the tribe of Gad: Ramoth (the city of refuge for the manslayer) in Gilead with its pastures, Mahanaim with its pastures, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pastures, and Jazer with its pastures—4 towns in all. ⁴⁰ All the towns that went by lot to the children of Merari (the remaining Levites) according to their clans, were 12 towns.

⁴¹ The total of the towns of the Levites within the holdings of Bnei-Yisrael was 48 towns with their pastures. ⁴² Each of these towns had its own pastures; so it was for all these towns.

Adonai Keeps All His Promises

⁴³ So Adonai gave to Israel the entire land that He had sworn to give to their fathers. They took possession and settled in it. ⁴⁴ Then Adonai gave them rest on all sides, just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one man of all their enemies withstood them, for Adonai gave all their enemies into their hand. ⁴⁵ Not one good thing that Adonai had promised to the house of Israel failed. All came to pass.