The Book of Joshua

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- Chapter 21 -

(Numbers 35:1–8; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81)

And the leaders of the families of Levi approached Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the rulers of the extended families of each of the tribes of the sons of Israel.(a)

And they spoke to them at Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, and they said, “The Lord instructed, by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given to us as habitations, with their suburbs to nourish our cattle.”

And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs from their possessions, in accord with the order of the Lord.

And the lot went out for the family of Kohath, of the sons of Aaron, the priest, from the tribes of Judah and Simeon and Benjamin: thirteen cities.

And to the remainder of the sons of Kohath, that is, to the Levites who were left over, there went, from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

And next the lot went out to the sons of Gershon, so that they would receive, from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali, and from the one half tribe of Manasseh at Bashan: the number of thirteen cities.

And to the sons of Merari, by their families, from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun, there went twelve cities.

And so the sons of Israel gave cities and their suburbs to the Levites, just as the Lord instructed by the hand of Moses, distributing to each by lot.

From the tribes of the sons of Judah and Simeon, Joshua gave cities, whose names are these:

to the sons of Aaron, of the families of Kohath of the stock of Levi, (for the first lot went out for them,)

the city of Arba, the father of Anak, which is called Hebron, on the mountain of Judah, and its surrounding suburbs.

Yet truly, the fields and its villages he had given to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as a possession.

Therefore, he gave to the sons of Aaron the priest, Hebron as a city of refuge, as well as its suburbs, and Libnah, with its suburbs,

and Jattir, and Eshtemoa,

and Holon, and Debir,

and Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their suburbs: nine cities from two tribes, just as has been said.

Then, from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, he gave Gibeon, and Geba,

and Anathoth, and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.

All the cities together of the sons of Aaron, the priest, were thirteen, with their suburbs.

Yet truly, the remainder of the families of the sons of Kohath, of the stock of Levi, were given this possession:

from the tribe of Ephraim, Shechem, one of the cities of refuge, with its suburbs, on mount Ephraim, and Gezer,

and Kibzaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities;

and from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon,

and Aijalon and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, four cities;

then, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-Rimmon, with their suburbs, two cities.

All the cities were ten, with their suburbs; these were given to the sons of Kohath, of the lesser degree.

Likewise, to the sons of Gershon, of the stock of Levi, from the one half tribe of Manasseh, went Golan in Bashan, one of the cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their suburbs, two cities;

also, from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, and Daberath,

and Jarmuth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities;

then, from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon,

and Helkath and Rehob, with their suburbs, four cities;

likewise, from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge, and Hammoth-Dor, and Kartan, with their suburbs, three cities.

All the cities of the families of Gershon were thirteen, with their suburbs.

Then, to the sons of Merari, Levites of the lesser degree, by their families, were given, from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah,

and Dimnah and Nahalal, four cities with their suburbs;

from the tribe of Reuben, beyond the Jordan, opposite Jericho, Bezer in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Misor and Jazer, and Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs;(b)

from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth of Gilead, one of the cities of refuge, and Mahanaim and Heshbon and Jazer, four cities with their suburbs.

All the cities of the sons of Merari, by their families and extended families, were twelve.

And so all the cities of the Levites, in the midst of the possession of the sons of Israel, were forty-eight,

with their suburbs, each distributed by families.

And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn he would deliver to their fathers. And they possessed it, and they lived in it.

And he gave them peace with all the surrounding nations. And none of their enemies dared to stand against them; instead, they were brought under their sovereignty.

Indeed, not so much as one word that he had promised to provide for them was left empty; instead, everything was fulfilled.

Footnotes

(a)21:1 Israel was ordered by family relations, with smaller and larger groups according to how closely they were related, which might be rendered something like: family, extended family, tribe, Israel.(Conte)

(b)21:36 Four cities:There are no more, though there be five names: for Misor is the same city as Bosor, which is to be observed in some other places, where the number of names exceeds the number of cities.(Challoner)

(Numbers 35:1–8; 1 Chronicles 6:54–81)

Then the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel.

They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their pasture lands for our livestock.”

The children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of the LORD, these cities with their pasture lands.

The lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. The children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had thirteen cities by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin.

The rest of the children of Kohath had ten cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The children of Gershon had thirteen cities by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

The children of Merari according to their families had twelve cities out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun.

The children of Israel gave these cities with their pasture lands by lot to the Levites, as the LORD commanded by Moses.

They gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are mentioned by name:

and they were for the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi; for theirs was the first lot.

They gave them Kiriath Arba, named after the father of Anak (also called Hebron), in the hill country of Judah, with its pasture lands around it.

But they gave the fields of the city and its villages to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

To the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Libnah with its pasture lands,

Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,

Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth Shemesh with its pasture lands: nine cities out of those two tribes.

Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands,

Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands: four cities.

All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

The families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.

They gave them Shechem with its pasture lands in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Gezer with its pasture lands,

Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth Horon with its pasture lands: four cities.

Out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,

Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: four cities.

Out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasture lands, and Gath Rimmon with its pasture lands: two cities.

All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their pasture lands.

They gave to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Be Eshterah with its pasture lands: two cities.

Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,

Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En Gannim with its pasture lands: four cities.

Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,

Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands: four cities.

Out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, Hammothdor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands: three cities.

All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

To the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands,

Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands: four cities.

Out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands,

Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands: four cities.

Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its pasture lands,

Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands: four cities in all.

All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites. Their lot was twelve cities.

All the cities of the Levites among the possessions of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.

Each of these cities included their pasture lands around them. It was this way with all these cities.

So the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers. They possessed it, and lived in it.

The LORD gave them rest all around, according to all that he swore to their fathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood before them. The LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.

Nothing failed of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.