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Reservation of the Levitical Cities

21 Then the family leaders of the descendants of Levi approached Eleazar the priest and Nun’s son Joshua, along with the family leaders of the people of Israel. It was at Shiloh in the land of Canaan that they told them, “The Lord ordered through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, along with their pasture lands for our livestock.”

Allocation for the Descendants of Kohath and Descendants of Gershon

So, just as the Lord had said, the Israelis set aside cities for the descendants of Levi from a portion of their own inheritances, along with their grazing lands. The lottery went to the families of the descendants of Kohath. So the descendants of Aaron the priest, who were descendants of Levi, received thirteen cities by random lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. The rest of the descendants of Kohath received ten cities by random lot from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by random lot from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh located in Bashan. The descendants of Merari, allocated according to their families, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

The Israelis apportioned these cities, along with their pasture lands, to the descendants of Levi by random lot, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

From the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon, they gave these cities, delineated by name: 10 for the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the descendants of Kohath, of the descendants of Levi, since the lot fell in their favor first. 11 They gave them Kiriath-arba, also known as Hebron, (Arba was named after[a] the ancestor of Anak), in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding pasture lands. 12 But the fields adjoining the city and its surrounding villages were given to Jephunneh’s son Caleb.

13 So they gave Hebron to the descendants of Aaron the priest to serve as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, 14 Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, 15 Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, 16 Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands, for a total of nine cities from these two tribes.

17 From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, 18 Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities. 19 All of the cities allocated[b] to the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, numbered thirteen, along with their pasture lands.

20 Cities from the tribe of Ephraim were also allotted to the families of the descendants of Kohath, that is, to the rest of the descendants of Kohath, who were descendants of Levi. 21 Shechem was allocated to them as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, in the mountainous region[c] of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, 22 Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

23 From the tribe of Dan were allocated[d] Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, 24 Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

25 From the half-tribe of Manasseh were allocated Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands, for a total of two cities. 26 All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the descendants of Kohath numbered ten.

27 To the descendants of Gershon (one of the Levitical families) from the half-tribe of Manasseh were allocated[e] Golan in Bashan as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands, for a total of two cities.

28 From the tribe of Issachar were allocated[f] Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, 29 Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

30 From the tribe of Asher were allocated[g] Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, 31 Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

32 From the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands were allocated[h] as a city of refuge for the unintentional killer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands, for a total of three cities.

33 All the cities of the descendants of Gershon according to their families totaled thirteen, including their pasture lands.

Allocation for the Descendants of Merari

34 From the tribe of Zebulun were allocated[i] to the descendants of Merari (that is, the rest of the descendants of Levi) Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, 35 Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

36 [j]From the tribe of Reuben were allocated[k] Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, 37 Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

38 From the tribe of Gad were allocated[l] Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, to serve as a city of refuge for the unintentional killer, Mahanaim with its pasture lands, 39 Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities in all.

40 So the entire allocation to the descendants of Merari (that is, the rest of the families of the descendants of Levi) according to their families totaled twelve cities.

Summary of Allocations to the Descendants of Levi

41 All of the cities of the descendants of Levi that had been set apart[m] among the territorial[n] possession of the Israelis totaled 48, along with their pasture lands. 42 These cities were each surrounded by pasture lands, as was the case with all of these cities. 43 So the Lord gave all of the land to Israel that he had promised to give their ancestors, and they took possession and settled there in it. 44 The Lord gave them peace[o] all around them, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of their enemies was able to oppose them—the Lord placed all of their enemies under their control. 45 Not one of the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed—all of them came about.[p]

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 21:11 The Heb. lacks was named after
  2. Joshua 21:19 The Heb. lacks allocated
  3. Joshua 21:21 Or the hill country
  4. Joshua 21:23 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  5. Joshua 21:27 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  6. Joshua 21:28 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  7. Joshua 21:30 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  8. Joshua 21:32 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  9. Joshua 21:34 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  10. Joshua 21:36 vv. 36-37 are usu. included in MT as a quotation from 1Chr 6:63-64
  11. Joshua 21:36 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  12. Joshua 21:38 The Heb. lacks were allocated
  13. Joshua 21:41 The Heb. lacks that had been set apart
  14. Joshua 21:41 The Heb. lacks territorial
  15. Joshua 21:44 Lit. rest
  16. Joshua 21:45 The Heb. lacks came about

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) 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) So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

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) The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.(H)

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.

The descendants of Merari,(L) according to their clans, received twelve(M) towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.(N)

So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these towns and their pasturelands, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

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)

Mishal,(AW) Abdon,(AX) 31 Helkath and Rehob,(AY) together with their pasturelands—four towns;

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,

Bezer,(BF) Jahaz,(BG) 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath,(BH) together with their pasturelands—four towns;

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.