Chapter 14

¹ These are the inheritances that the Israelites received in the land of Canaan. Eleazar, the priest, and Joshua, the son of Nun, and the leaders of the ancestral tribes distributed it to them. ² The inheritance of the nine and one-half tribes was divided by lot just as the Lord had commanded Moses. ³ Moses had given the inheritance to the two and one-half tribes on the other side of the Jordan. The Levites were not given an inheritance among them.

⁴ The descendants of Joseph belonged to two tribes: Manasseh and Ephraim. The Levites were not given an inheritance in the land, only cities in which they could dwell along with their pastures for their herds and their flocks. ⁵ The Israelites divided the land just as the Lord had commanded Moses.^[a]

Caleb’s Inheritance. ⁶ The Judahites came to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, and said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses, the man of God, about me and you at Kadesh-barnea. ⁷ I was forty years old when Moses, the servant of God, sent me out from Kadesh-barnea to explore the land. I brought him back a report that expressed what I felt, ⁸ but my brethren who went up with me caused the hearts of the people to melt with fear. I, however, followed the Lord, my God, wholeheartedly. ⁹ On that day Moses made an oath stating, ‘The land upon which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, for you have wholeheartedly followed the Lord, my God.’ ¹⁰ The Lord has kept me alive these forty-five years since the Lord said this to Moses while the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, as he promised. I am now eighty-five years old. ¹¹ I am just as strong today as on the day that Moses sent me out. I am just as vigorous in going out to fight as I was then. ¹² Therefore, give me the hill country just as the Lord promised on that day. You yourself heard that day how the Anakim were there, and that their cities were large and well fortified, but if the Lord is with me, then I will be able to drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.”

¹³ Joshua blessed Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, and gave him Hebron as his inheritance. ¹⁴ Hebron has belonged to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, the Kenizzite, as an inheritance ever since because he wholeheartedly followed the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ (Hebron used to be called Kiriath-arba. It was named after Arba, the greatest of the Anakim.)

There was then a respite from fighting in the land.