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Joshua 21
New International Reader's Version
Joshua 21
New International Reader's Version
Towns Are Given to the Levites
21 The leaders of the Levite family groups approached Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun. They also approached the leaders of the family groups of Israel’s other tribes. 2 They went to all of them at Shiloh in Canaan. They said to them, “Give us towns to live in. Also give us grasslands for our livestock. That’s what the Lord commanded through Moses.”
3 So the Israelites gave the Levites towns and grasslands out of their own shares of land. They did what the Lord had commanded. Here are the towns the Levites were given.
4 The first lot drawn out was for the people of Kohath, according to their family groups. Some of the Levites came from the family line of Aaron the priest. They were given 13 towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.
5 The rest of Kohath’s family groups were given ten towns. Those towns were from the family groups of the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and half of the tribe of Manasseh.
6 The family groups of Gershon were given 13 towns. Those towns were from the family groups of the tribes of Issachar, Asher and Naphtali and half of the tribe of Manasseh. That part of Manasseh was in the land of Bashan.
7 The family groups of Merari received 12 towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun. Each family group received its share.
8 So the Israelites gave those towns and their grasslands to the Levites. They did what the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 Some towns were given from the territories of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. 10 The Israelites gave them to the members of the family line of Aaron. The towns were given to the family groups of Kohath. They were Levites. The first lot drawn out was for them. Here are the towns the family groups of Kohath were given.
11 The Israelites gave them Kiriath Arba and the grasslands around it. Kiriath Arba is also called Hebron. It’s in the hill country of Judah. Anak came from the family line of Arba. 12 But Israel had already given away the fields and villages around the city. They had given them to Caleb as his share. Caleb was the son of Jephunneh. 13 So they gave Hebron to the members of the family line of Aaron the priest. Hebron was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also gave them Libnah, 14 Jattir, Eshtemoa, 15 Holon, Debir, 16 Ain, Juttah and Beth Shemesh. They gave those towns and their grasslands to the family groups of Kohath. The total number of towns from the tribes of Judah and Simeon came to nine.
17 The Israelites gave some towns from the tribe of Benjamin to the family groups of Kohath.
The towns were Gibeon, Geba, 18 Anathoth and Almon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
19 So the total number of towns and their grasslands given to the priests in Aaron’s family line came to 13.
20 There were other family groups of Kohath among the Levites. They were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim. Here are the towns those other family groups of Kohath were given.
21 In the hill country of Ephraim they were given
Shechem. It was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They were also given Gezer, 22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
23 From the tribe of Dan they received
Eltekeh, Gibbethon, 24 Aijalon and Gath Rimmon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
25 From half of the tribe of Manasseh they received
Taanach and Gath Rimmon. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to two.
26 So all these ten towns and their grasslands were given to the other family groups of Kohath.
27 Here are the towns given to the family groups of Gershon among the Levites.
From half of the tribe of Manasseh they received
Golan in the land of Bashan. Golan was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also received Be Eshterah. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to two.
28 From the tribe of Issachar they received
Kishion, Daberath, 29 Jarmuth and En Gannim. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
30 From the tribe of Asher they received
Mishal, Abdon, 31 Helkath and Rehob. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
32 From the tribe of Naphtali they received
Kedesh in Galilee. Kedesh was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also received Hammoth Dor and Kartan. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to three.
33 So the total number of towns and their grasslands given to the family groups of Gershon came to 13.
34 The rest of the Levites were from the family groups of Merari. Here are the towns they were given.
From the tribe of Zebulun they received
Jokneam, Kartah, 35 Dimnah and Nahalal. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
36 From the tribe of Reuben they received
Bezer, Jahaz, 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
38 From the tribe of Gad they received
Ramoth in Gilead. Ramoth was a city where anyone charged with murder could go for safety. They also received Mahanaim, 39 Heshbon and Jazer. The total number of these towns and their grasslands came to four.
40 So the total number of towns given to the family groups of Merari came to 12. That concludes the list of towns the rest of the Levites received.
41 The total number of Levite towns and their grasslands in the territory given to Israel came to 48. 42 Each of those towns had grasslands around it. That was true of all of them.
43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had promised to give to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And Israel took it over. Then they made their homes there. 44 The Lord gave them peace and rest on every side. He had promised their people of long ago that he would do that. Not one of Israel’s enemies was able to fight against them and win. The Lord handed all their enemies over to them. 45 The Lord kept all the good promises he had made to the Israelites. Every one of them came true.
Joshua 21
New International Version
Joshua 21
New International Version
Towns for the Levites(A)
21 Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribal families of Israel(B) 2 at Shiloh(C) in Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us towns(D) to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.”(E) 3 So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:
4 The first lot came out for the Kohathites,(F) according to their clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest were allotted thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.(G) 5 The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.(H)
6 The descendants of Gershon(I) were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar,(J) Asher,(K) Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
7 The descendants of Merari,(L) according to their clans, received twelve(M) towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.(N)
8 So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.
9 From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they allotted the following towns by name 10 (these towns were assigned to the descendants of Aaron who were from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them):
11 They gave them Kiriath Arba(O) (that is, Hebron(P)), with its surrounding pastureland, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.) 12 But the fields and villages around the city they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.(Q)
13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refuge(R) for one accused of murder), Libnah,(S) 14 Jattir,(T) Eshtemoa,(U) 15 Holon,(V) Debir,(W) 16 Ain,(X) Juttah(Y) and Beth Shemesh,(Z) together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.
17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon,(AA) Geba,(AB) 18 Anathoth(AC) and Almon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.
19 The total number of towns(AD) for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.(AE)
20 The rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted towns from the tribe of Ephraim:
21 In the hill country of Ephraim they were given Shechem(AF) (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Gezer,(AG) 22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon,(AH) together with their pasturelands—four towns.(AI)
23 Also from the tribe of Dan they received Eltekeh, Gibbethon,(AJ) 24 Aijalon(AK) and Gath Rimmon,(AL) together with their pasturelands—four towns.
25 From half the tribe of Manasseh they received Taanach(AM) and Gath Rimmon, together with their pasturelands—two towns.
26 All these ten towns and their pasturelands were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.(AN)
27 The Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:
from the half-tribe of Manasseh,
Golan in Bashan(AO) (a city of refuge for one accused of murder(AP)) and Be Eshterah, together with their pasturelands—two towns;
28 from the tribe of Issachar,(AQ)
Kishion,(AR) Daberath,(AS) 29 Jarmuth(AT) and En Gannim,(AU) together with their pasturelands—four towns;
30 from the tribe of Asher,(AV)
32 from the tribe of Naphtali,
Kedesh(AZ) in Galilee (a city of refuge for one accused of murder(BA)), Hammoth Dor and Kartan, together with their pasturelands—three towns.
33 The total number of towns of the Gershonite(BB) clans came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.
34 The Merarite clans (the rest of the Levites) were given:
from the tribe of Zebulun,(BC)
Jokneam,(BD) Kartah, 35 Dimnah and Nahalal,(BE) together with their pasturelands—four towns;
36 from the tribe of Reuben,
38 from the tribe of Gad,
Ramoth(BI) in Gilead(BJ) (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Mahanaim,(BK) 39 Heshbon and Jazer,(BL) together with their pasturelands—four towns in all.
40 The total number of towns allotted to the Merarite clans, who were the rest of the Levites, came to twelve.(BM)
41 The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands.(BN) 42 Each of these towns had pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all these towns.
43 So the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their ancestors,(BO) and they took possession(BP) of it and settled there.(BQ) 44 The Lord gave them rest(BR) on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemies(BS) withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemies(BT) into their hands.(BU) 45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promises(BV) to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.
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New International Version (NIV) 
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