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18 ¶ And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel assembled together at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle of the testimony there after the land was subdued before them.

¶ And there remained among the sons of Israel seven tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

And Joshua said unto the sons of Israel, How long shall ye be negligent to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers has given you?

Indicate from among you three men for each tribe that I may send them and let them arise and walk through the land and draw it according to its inheritances; and they shall return unto me.

And they shall divide it into seven parts; Judah shall abide in their borders towards the Negev, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their borders on the north.

Ye shall therefore draw up the land into seven parts and bring the description here that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance; and Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance of the other side of the Jordan on the east, which Moses, the slave of the LORD, gave them.

And the men arose and went away; and Joshua charged those that went to draw the land, saying unto them, Go and walk through the land and draw it up and return to me that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.

And those men went and passed through the land, drawing it by cities into seven parts in a book and came again to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh.

10 And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD; and there Joshua divided the land unto the sons of Israel according to their portions.

11 ¶ And the lot of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin came up according to their families; and the border of their lot came forth between the sons of Judah and the sons of Joseph.

12 And their border on the side of the north was from the Jordan and that border goes up beside Jericho on the north side and up to the mountain westward and comes out at the wilderness of Bethaven;

13 and from there that border passes through Luz, by the side of Luz (which is Bethel) towards the Negev. And this border descends from Atarothadar to the mountain that is towards the Negev of the lower Bethhoron.

14 And this border turns and compasses the side of the sea towards the Negev unto the mountain that is before Bethhoron towards the Negev, and it comes out at Kirjathbaal, which is Kirjathjearim, a city of the sons of Judah. This is the west quarter.

15 And the side of the Negev is from the end of Kirjathjearim, and the border goes out to the west and comes out at the well of waters of Nephtoah,

16 and this border descends to the end of the mountain that is before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the valley of the giants to the north, and descends then to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite towards the Negev and from there descends to the fountain of Rogel,

17 and from the north it turns and goes to Enshemesh and from there goes to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent to Adummim, and descends to the stone of Bohan, the son of Reuben

18 and passes along toward the side over against the valley of the north and descends to the plain;

19 and this border turns to pass to the side of Bethhoglah northward, and the border comes out at the north bay of the salt sea at the end of the Jordan towards the Negev. This is the border towards the Negev.

20 And Jordan finishes this border on the east side. This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin, by the borders thereof round about, according to their families.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Bethhoglah, the valley of Keziz,

22 Betharabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 Avim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 Chepharhaammonai, Ophni, and Gaba: twelve cities with their villages;

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah,

27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 Zelah, Eleph, Jebusi, which is Jerusalem, Gibeath and Kirjath: fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the sons of Benjamin according to their families.

Division of the Rest of the Land

18 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh(A) and set up the tent of meeting(B) there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it,(C) according to the inheritance of each.(D) Then they will return to me. You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south(E) and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north.(F) After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots(G) for you in the presence of the Lord our God. The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the Lord is their inheritance.(H) And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the Lord gave it to them.(I)

As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it.(J) Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh(K) in the presence of the Lord.” So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua then cast lots(L) for them in Shiloh in the presence(M) of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.(N)

Allotment for Benjamin

11 The first lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness(O) of Beth Aven.(P) 13 From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz(Q) (that is, Bethel(R)) and went down to Ataroth Addar(S) on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14 From the hill facing Beth Horon(T) on the south the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim),(U) a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15 The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.(V) 16 The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim.(W) It continued down the Hinnom Valley(X) along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.(Y) 17 It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth,(Z) which faces the Pass of Adummim,(AA) and ran down to the Stone of Bohan(AB) son of Reuben. 18 It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah[a](AC) and on down into the Arabah.(AD) 19 It then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah(AE) and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,(AF) at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side.

These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides.(AG)

21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah,(AH) Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah,(AI) Zemaraim,(AJ) Bethel,(AK) 23 Avvim,(AL) Parah, Ophrah,(AM) 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba(AN)—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon,(AO) Ramah,(AP) Beeroth,(AQ) 26 Mizpah,(AR) Kephirah,(AS) Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah,(AT) Haeleph, the Jebusite city(AU) (that is, Jerusalem(AV)), Gibeah(AW) and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.(AX)

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.(AY)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew slope facing the Arabah