Allotment for Simeon

19:2–10pp—1Ch 4:28–33

19 The second lot came out for the tribe of Simeon according to its clans. Their inheritance lay within the territory of Judah.v 2 It included:

Beershebaw (or Sheba),a Moladah,x 3 Hazar Shual,y Balah, Ezem,z 4 Eltolad,a Bethul, Hormah,b 5 Ziklag,c Beth Markaboth, Hazar Susah, 6 Beth Lebaoth and Sharuhen—thirteen towns and their villages;

7 Ain, Rimmon,d Ether and Ashane—four towns and their villages—8 and all the villages around these towns as far as Baalath Beer (Ramah in the Negev).f

This was the inheritance of the tribe of the Simeonites, according to its clans. 9 The inheritance of the Simeonites was taken from the share of Judah,g because Judah’s portion was more than they needed. So the Simeonites received their inheritance within the territory of Judah.h

Allotment for Zebulun

10 The third lot came up for Zebuluni according to its clans:

The boundary of their inheritance went as far as Sarid.j 11 Going west it ran to Maralah, touched Dabbesheth, and extended to the ravine near Jokneam.k 12 It turned east from Saridl toward the sunrise to the territory of Kisloth Tabor and went on to Daberathm and up to Japhia. 13 Then it continued eastward to Gath Hephern and Eth Kazin; it came out at Rimmono and turned toward Neah. 14 There the boundary went around on the north to Hannathon and ended at the Valley of Iphtah El.p 15 Included were Kattath, Nahalal,q Shimron,r Idalah and Bethlehem.s There were twelve towns and their villages.

16 These towns and their villages were the inheritance of Zebulun,t according to its clans.u

Allotment for Issachar

17 The fourth lot came out for Issacharv according to its clans. 18 Their territory included:

Jezreel,w Kesulloth, Shunem,x 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion,y Ebez, 21 Remeth, En Gannim,z En Haddah and Beth Pazzez. 22 The boundary touched Tabor,a Shahazumah and Beth Shemesh,b and ended at the Jordan. There were sixteen towns and their villages.

23 These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar,c according to its clans.d

Allotment for Asher

24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Ashere according to its clans. 25 Their territory included:

Helkath, Hali, Beten, Akshaph,f 26 Allammelek, Amad and Mishal.g On the west the boundary touched Carmelh and Shihor Libnath. 27 It then turned east toward Beth Dagon,i touched Zebulunj and the Valley of Iphtah El,k and went north to Beth Emek and Neiel, passing Kabull on the left. 28 It went to Abdon,b m Rehob,n Hammono and Kanah,p as far as Greater Sidon.q 29 The boundary then turned back toward Ramahr and went to the fortified city of Tyre,s turned toward Hosah and came out at the Mediterranean Seat in the region of Akzib,u 30 Ummah, Aphekv and Rehob.w There were twenty-two towns and their villages.

31 These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Asher,x according to its clans.

Allotment for Naphtali

32 The sixth lot came out for Naphtali according to its clans:

33 Their boundary went from Heleph and the large tree in Zaanannim,y passing Adami Nekeb and Jabneelz to Lakkum and ending at the Jordan. 34 The boundary ran west through Aznoth Tabor and came out at Hukkok.a It touched Zebulunb on the south, Asher on the west and the Jordanc on the east. 35 The fortified towns were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath,c Rakkath, Kinnereth,d 36 Adamah, Ramah,e Hazor,f 37 Kedesh,g Edrei,h En Hazor, 38 Iron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anathi and Beth Shemesh.j There were nineteen towns and their villages.

39 These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali, according to its clans.k

Allotment for Dan

40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan according to its clans. 41 The territory of their inheritance included:

Zorah, Eshtaol,l Ir Shemesh, 42 Shaalabbin, Aijalon,m Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah,n Ekron,o 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon,p Baalath,q 45 Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon,r 46 Me Jarkon and Rakkon, with the area facing Joppa.s

47 (When the territory of the Danites was lost to them,t they went up and attacked Leshemu, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it. They settled in Leshem and namedv it Dan after their ancestor.)w

48 These towns and their villages were the inheritance of the tribe of Dan,x according to its clans.

Allotment for Joshua

49 When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them, 50 as the Lord had commanded. They gave him the town he asked for—Timnath Serahd y in the hill country of Ephraim. And he built up the town and settled there.

51 These are the territories that Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the tribal clans of Israel assigned by lot at Shiloh in the presence of the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And so they finished dividingz the land.a

Cities of Refuge

20:1–9Ref—Nu 35:9–34; Dt 4:41–43; 19:1–14

20 Then the Lord said to Joshua: 2 “Tell the Israelites to designate the cities of refuge, as I instructed you through Moses, 3 so that anyone who kills a person accidentally and unintentionallyb may flee there and find protection from the avenger of blood.c 4 When they flee to one of these cities, they are to stand in the entrance of the city gated and state their case before the elderse of that city. Then the elders are to admit the fugitive into their city and provide a place to live among them. 5 If the avenger of blood comes in pursuit, the elders must not surrender the fugitive, because the fugitive killed their neighbor unintentionally and without malice aforethought. 6 They are to stay in that city until they have stood trial before the assemblyf and until the death of the high priest who is serving at that time. Then they may go back to their own home in the town from which they fled.”

7 So they set apart Kedeshg in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, Shechemh in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath Arbai (that is, Hebronj) in the hill country of Judah.k 8 East of the Jordan (on the other side from Jericho) they designated Bezerl in the wilderness on the plateau in the tribe of Reuben, Ramoth in Gileadm in the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashann in the tribe of Manasseh. 9 Any of the Israelites or any foreigner residing among them who killed someone accidentallyo could flee to these designated cities and not be killed by the avenger of blood prior to standing trial before the assembly.p

Towns for the Levites

21:4–39pp—1Ch 6:54–80

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 Israelq 2 at Shilohr in Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that you give us townss to live in, with pasturelands for our livestock.”t 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,u 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.v 5 The rest of Kohath’s descendants were allotted ten towns from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and half of Manasseh.w

6 The descendants of Gershonx were allotted thirteen towns from the clans of the tribes of Issachar,y Asher,z Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7 The descendants of Merari,a according to their clans, received twelveb towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.c

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 Arbad (that is, Hebrone), 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.f

13 So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron (a city of refugeg for one accused of murder), Libnah,h 14 Jattir,i Eshtemoa,j 15 Holon,k Debir,l 16 Ain,m Juttahn and Beth Shemesh,o together with their pasturelands—nine towns from these two tribes.

17 And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon,p Geba,q 18 Anathothr and Almon, together with their pasturelands—four towns.

19 The total number of townss for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.t

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 Shechemu (a city of refuge for one accused of murder) and Gezer,v 22 Kibzaim and Beth Horon,w together with their pasturelands—four towns.x

23 Also from the tribe of Dan they received Eltekeh, Gibbethon,y 24 Aijalonz and Gath Rimmon,a together with their pasturelands—four towns.

25 From half the tribe of Manasseh they received Taanachb 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.c

27 The Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:

from the half-tribe of Manasseh,

Golan in Bashand (a city of refuge for one accused of murdere) and Be Eshterah, together with their pasturelands—two towns;

28 from the tribe of Issachar,f

Kishion,g Daberath,h 29 Jarmuthi and En Gannim,j together with their pasturelands—four towns;

30 from the tribe of Asher,k

Mishal,l Abdon,m 31 Helkath and Rehob,n together with their pasturelands—four towns;

32 from the tribe of Naphtali,

Kedesho in Galilee (a city of refuge for one accused of murderp), Hammoth Dor and Kartan, together with their pasturelands—three towns.

33 The total number of towns of the Gershoniteq clans came to thirteen, together with their pasturelands.

34 The Merarite clans (the rest of the Levites) were given:

from the tribe of Zebulun,r

Jokneam,s Kartah, 35 Dimnah and Nahalal,t together with their pasturelands—four towns;

36 from the tribe of Reuben,

Bezer,u Jahaz,v 37 Kedemoth and Mephaath,w together with their pasturelands—four towns;

38 from the tribe of Gad,

Ramothx in Gileady (a city of refuge for one accused of murder), Mahanaim,z 39 Heshbon and Jazer,a 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.b

41 The towns of the Levites in the territory held by the Israelites were forty-eight in all, together with their pasturelands.c 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,d and they took possessione of it and settled there.f 44 The Lord gave them restg on every side, just as he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of their enemiesh withstood them; the Lord gave all their enemiesi into their hands.j 45 Not one of all the Lord’s good promisesk to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.

Eastern Tribes Return Home

22 Then Joshua summoned the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh 2 and said to them, “You have done all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded,l and you have obeyed me in everything I commanded. 3 For a long time now—to this very day—you have not deserted your fellow Israelites but have carried out the mission the Lord your God gave you. 4 Now that the Lord your God has given them restm as he promised, return to your homesn in the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the other side of the Jordan.o 5 But be very careful to keep the commandmentp and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lordq your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands,r to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.s”

6 Then Joshua blessedt them and sent them away, and they went to their homes. 7 (To the half-tribe of Manasseh Moses had given land in Bashan,u and to the other half of the tribe Joshua gave land on the west sidev of the Jordan along with their fellow Israelites.) When Joshua sent them home, he blessed them,w 8 saying, “Return to your homes with your great wealth—with large herds of livestock,x with silver, gold, bronze and iron,y and a great quantity of clothing—and dividez the plundera from your enemies with your fellow Israelites.”

9 So the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh left the Israelites at Shilohb in Canaan to return to Gilead,c their own land, which they had acquired in accordance with the command of the Lord through Moses.

10 When they came to Gelilothd near the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh built an imposing altare there by the Jordan. 11 And when the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Geliloth near the Jordan on the Israelite side, 12 the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shilohf to go to war against them.

13 So the Israelites sent Phinehasg son of Eleazar,h the priest, to the land of Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh. 14 With him they sent ten of the chief men, one from each of the tribes of Israel, each the head of a family division among the Israelite clans.i

15 When they went to Gilead—to Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh—they said to them: 16 “The whole assembly of the Lord says: ‘How could you break faithj with the God of Israel like this? How could you turn away from the Lord and build yourselves an altar in rebellionk against him now? 17 Was not the sin of Peorl enough for us? Up to this very day we have not cleansed ourselves from that sin, even though a plague fell on the community of the Lord! 18 And are you now turning away from the Lord?

“ ‘If you rebel against the Lord today, tomorrow he will be angry with the whole communitym of Israel. 19 If the land you possess is defiled, come over to the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernaclen stands, and share the land with us. But do not rebel against the Lord or against us by building an altaro for yourselves, other than the altar of the Lord our God. 20 When Achan son of Zerah was unfaithful in regard to the devoted things,a p did not wrathq come on the whole communityr of Israel? He was not the only one who died for his sin.’ ”s

21 Then Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the clans of Israel: 22 “The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God,t the Lord!u He knows!v And let Israel know! If this has been in rebellion or disobedience to the Lord, do not spare us this day. 23 If we have built our own altar to turn away from the Lord and to offer burnt offerings and grain offerings,w or to sacrifice fellowship offerings on it, may the Lord himself call us to account.x

24 “No! We did it for fear that some day your descendants might say to ours, ‘What do you have to do with the Lord, the God of Israel? 25 The Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you—you Reubenites and Gadites! You have no share in the Lord.’ So your descendants might cause ours to stop fearing the Lord.

26 “That is why we said, ‘Let us get ready and build an altar—but not for burnt offerings or sacrifices.’ 27 On the contrary, it is to be a witnessy between us and you and the generations that follow, that we will worship the Lord at his sanctuary with our burnt offerings, sacrifices and fellowship offerings.z Then in the future your descendants will not be able to say to ours, ‘You have no share in the Lord.’

28 “And we said, ‘If they ever say this to us, or to our descendants, we will answer: Look at the replica of the Lord’s altar, which our ancestors built, not for burnt offerings and sacrifices, but as a witnessa between us and you.’

29 “Far be it from us to rebelb against the Lord and turn away from him today by building an altar for burnt offerings, grain offerings and sacrifices, other than the altar of the Lord our God that stands before his tabernacle.c”

30 When Phinehas the priest and the leaders of the community—the heads of the clans of the Israelites—heard what Reuben, Gad and Manasseh had to say, they were pleased. 31 And Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to Reuben, Gad and Manasseh, “Today we know that the Lord is with us,d because you have not been unfaithful to the Lord in this matter. Now you have rescued the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.”

32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the leaders returned to Canaan from their meeting with the Reubenites and Gadites in Gilead and reported to the Israelites.e 33 They were glad to hear the report and praised God.f And they talked no more about going to war against them to devastate the country where the Reubenites and the Gadites lived.

34 And the Reubenites and the Gadites gave the altar this name: A Witnessg Between Us—that the Lord is God.