Joshua 21

¹ Then the heads of families among the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua son of Nun and the heads of families of the tribes of Israel –

² they were then at Shiloh in the land of Canaan. They said to them, ‘Yahweh ordered through Moses that we should be given towns to live in, with the adjoining pasture lands for our cattle’.

³ So because of Yahweh’s order the Israelites gave the Levites these towns from their inheritance, and with them the adjoining pasture lands.

⁴ Lots were cast for the clans of the Kohathites. To the Levites, the sons of Aaron the priest, fell thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin;

⁵ the other sons of Kohath received, clan by

⁶ clan, ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. To the sons of Gershon, clan by clan, fell thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷ To the sons of Merari, clan by clan, fell twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.

⁸ These towns and the adjoining pasture land, the Israelites gave by lot to the Levites, as Yahweh had ordered through Moses.

⁹ From the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the towns named below;

¹⁰ this was the portion of the sons of Aaron from the clans of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi; for theirs was the first portion.

¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba, the chief city of the Anakim, which is now Hebron, in the highlands of Judah, with the pasture lands round it.

¹² But the fields and villages of this town they gave into the possession of Caleb son of Jephunneh as his property.

¹³ To the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for men who had killed, and the adjoining pasture lands; also Libnah with its pasture lands,

¹⁴ and Jattir, Eshtemoa,

¹⁵ Holon, Debir,

¹⁶ Ashan, Juttah and Beth-shemesh, each with its pasture lands: nine towns taken from these two tribes.

¹⁷ From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon and Geba with their pasture lands,

¹⁸ and Anathoth and Almon with theirs: four towns.

¹⁹ The towns of the priests, the sons of Aaron, were thirteen towns in all, with their pasture lands.

²⁰ To the clans of the sons of Kohath, to the remaining Levites of the sons of Kohath, the lot assigned towns belonging to the tribe of Ephraim.

²¹ They were given the city of refuge, Shechem, with its pasture lands, in the highlands of Ephraim, together with Gezer,

²² Kibzaim and Beth-horon, each with its pasture lands: four towns.

²³ From the tribe of Dan, Elteke, Gibbethon,

²⁴ Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their pasture lands: four towns.

²⁵ From the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Jibleam with their pasture lands: two towns. In all: ten towns with their pasture lands for the remaining clans of the sons of Kohath.

²⁷ To the sons of Gershon who were of levitical clans were given the city of refuge Golan in Bashan and also Ashtaroth, each with its pasture lands: two towns, both from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, Dobrath,

²⁹ Jarmuth and En-gannim, each with its pasture lands: four towns.

³⁰ From the tribe of Asher, Mishal, Abdon,

³¹ Helkath and Rehob, each with its pasture lands: four towns.

³² From the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh the city of refuge in Galilee, Hammoth-dor and Rakkath, each with its pasture lands: three towns.

³³ The towns for the Gershonites according to their clans were thirteen towns in all with their pasture lands.

³⁴ To the clans of the sons of Merari, the remainder of the Levites, fell four towns with their pasture lands from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam, Kartah,

³⁵ Rimmon and Nahalal;

³⁶ from beyond the Jordan and from the tribe of Reuben, the city of refuge Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, Jahaz,

³⁷ Kedemoth and Mephaath, each with its pasture lands: four towns;

³⁸ from the tribe of Gad the city of refuge Ramoth-gilead, Mahanaim,

³⁹ Heshbon and Jazer, each with its pasture lands: four towns.

⁴⁰ The towns allotted clan by clan to the sons of Merari, to the remainder of the levitical clans, were twelve towns in all.

⁴¹ The towns thus granted to the Levites in Israelite territory were in all forty-eight, with their pasture lands.

⁴² For all these towns, the town itself and the pasture land round it went together. This was true of every town named.

⁴³ So it was that Yahweh gave the Israelites all the land he had sworn to give their fathers. They took possession of it and settled there.

⁴⁴ Yahweh granted them peace on all their frontiers just as he had sworn to their fathers, and of all their enemies not one had managed to stand against them. Yahweh had given all their enemies into their hands.

⁴⁵ Of all the promises that Yahweh had made to the House of Israel, not one failed; all were fulfilled.