Joshua 21

Cities of the Levites

1 The heads of the Levite families approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes. 2 At Shiloh, in the land of Canaan, they told them, "The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock."

3 So the Israelites, by the Lord's command, gave the Levites these cities with their pasturelands from their inheritance.
4 The lot came out for the Kohathite clans: The Levites who were the descendants of Aaron the priest received 13 cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 The remaining descendants of Kohath received 10 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and half the tribe of Manasseh.

6 Gershon's descendants received 13 cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and half the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7 Merari's descendants received 12 cities for their clans from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8 The Israelites gave these cities with their pasturelands around them to the Levites by lot, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Cities of Aaron's Descendants

9 The Israelites gave these cities by name from the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon 10 to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because they received the first lot. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) with its surrounding pasturelands in the hill country of Judah. Arba was the father of Anak.

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

13 They gave to the descendants of Aaron the priest:
Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Libnah with its pasturelands, 14 Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 15 Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands,

16 Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands-nine cities from these two tribes.

17 From the tribe of Benjamin [they gave]:
Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, 18 Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands-four cities.

19 All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

Cities of Kohath's Other Descendants

20 The allotted cities to the remaining clans of Kohath's descendants, who were Levites, came from the tribe of Ephraim.

21 The Israelites gave them:
Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,

22 Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands-four cities.

23 From the tribe of Dan [they gave]:
Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,

24 Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands-four cities.

25 From half the tribe of Manasseh [they gave]:
Taanach with its pasturelands and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands-two cities.

26 All 10 cities with their pasturelands were for the clans of Kohath's other descendants.

Cities of Gershon's Descendants

27 From half the tribe of Manasseh, [they gave] to the descendants of Gershon, who were one of the Levite clans:
Golan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands in Bashan, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands-two cities.

28 From the tribe of Issachar [they gave]:
Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,

29 Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En-gannim with its pasturelands-four cities.

30 From the tribe of Asher [they gave]:
Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,

31 Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands-four cities.

32 From the tribe of Naphtali [they gave]:
Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands-three cities.

33 All 13 cities with their pasturelands were for the Gershonites by their clans.

Cities of Merari's Descendants

34 From the tribe of Zebulun, [they gave] to the clans of the descendants of Merari, who were the remaining Levites:
Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,

35 Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands-four cities.

36 From the tribe of Reuben [they gave]:
Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands,

37 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands-four cities.

38 From the tribe of Gad [they gave]:
Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 39 Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands-four cities in all.

40 All 12 cities were allotted to the clans of Merari's descendants, the remaining Levite clans.
41 Within the Israelite possession there were 48 cities in all with their pasturelands for the Levites.

42 Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

The Lord's Promises Fulfilled

43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled there. 44 The Lord gave them rest on every side according to all He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies were able to stand against them, for the Lord handed over all their enemies to them.

45 None of the good promises the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Everything was fulfilled.

Joshua 21

1 Then came near the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites unto Eleazar the priest, and unto Joshua the son of Nun, and unto the heads of fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel;2 and they spake unto them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.3 And the children of Israel gave unto the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the commandment of Jehovah, these cities with their suburbs.

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

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

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

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

8 And the children of Israel gave by lot unto the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded by Moses.9 And 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 here mentioned by name:10 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.11 And they gave them Kiriath-arba, which Arba was the father of Anak (the same is Hebron), in the hill-country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.12 But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

13 And unto the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Libnah with its suburbs,14 and Jattir with its suburbs, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs,15 and Holon with its suburbs, and Debir with its suburbs,16 and Ain with its suburbs, and Juttah with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.17 And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its suburbs, Geba with its suburbs,18 Anathoth with its suburbs, and Almon with its suburbs; four cities.19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

20 And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, even the rest of the children of Kohath, they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.21 And they gave them Shechem with its suburbs in the hill-country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its suburbs,22 and Kibzaim with its suburbs, and Beth-horon with its suburbs; four cities.23 And out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its suburbs, Gibbethon with its suburbs,24 Aijalon with its suburbs, Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; four cities.25 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its suburbs, and Gath-rimmon with its suburbs; two cities.26 All the cities of the families of the rest of the children of Kohath were ten with their suburbs.

27 And unto the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Be-eshterah with its suburbs; two cities.28 And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its suburbs, Daberath with its suburbs,29 Jarmuth with its suburbs, En-gannim with its suburbs; four cities.30 And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its suburbs, Abdon with its suburbs,31 Helkath with its suburbs, and Rehob with its suburbs; four cities.32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Hammoth-dor with its suburbs, and Kartan with its suburbs; three cities.33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.

34 And unto the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its suburbs, and Kartah with its suburbs,35 Dimnah with its suburbs, Nahalal with its suburbs; four cities.36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its suburbs, and Jahaz with its suburbs,37 Kedemoth with its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; four cities.38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs,39 Heshbon with its suburbs, Jazer with its suburbs; four cities in all.40 All these were the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, even the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

41 All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.42 These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus it was with all these cities.

43 So Jehovah gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.44 And Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; Jehovah delivered all their enemies into their hand.45 There failed not aught of any good thing which Jehovah had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.