Joshua 18-19

GOD’S WORD Translation

The Second Stage in Dividing the Land

18 The whole congregation of Israel gathered at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land was under their control.

² There were still seven tribes in Israel who had not yet received any land as their inheritance. ³ So Joshua asked the Israelites, “How long are you going to waste time conquering the land which the Lord God of your ancestors has given you? ⁴ Choose three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They will survey the land and write a description of it which shows ⌞the borders of⌟ their inheritance. Then they will come back to me. ⁵ They will divide the land into seven parts. Judah will stay within its territory in the south, and Joseph’s descendants will stay within their territory in the north. ⁶ You must describe the seven parts of the land and report to me here. I will draw lots for you here in the presence of the Lord our God. ⁷ Levi’s tribe has no separate region among you, because their inheritance is to serve the Lord as priests. The tribes of Gad and Reuben and half of the tribe of Manasseh have received the inheritance that the Lord’s servant Moses gave them on the east side of the Jordan River.”

⁸ As the men got ready to go, Joshua ordered them to write a description of the land. He said, “Go survey the land. Write a description of it, and return to me. Then I will draw lots for you in the presence of the Lord here in Shiloh.”

⁹ The men surveyed the land. They described it in a book. The land was divided into seven parts according to its cities. Then they returned to Joshua at the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ So Joshua drew lots for them in the presence of the Lord in Shiloh. There Joshua divided the land among the tribes of Israel.

Benjamin’s Land

¹¹ The lot was drawn for the families of the tribe of Benjamin. Their territory lies between Judah’s and Joseph’s. ¹² Their northern border starts at the Jordan, goes up the slope north of Jericho, west through the mountains, and ends at the desert of Beth Aven. ¹³ From there the border goes to the south slope of Luz (now called Bethel). Then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar over the mountains south of Lower Beth Horon. ¹⁴ The border turns and goes around on the west side, south of the mountain that faces Beth Horon, and ends at Kiriath Baal (now called Kiriath Jearim), a city of Judah. ¹⁵ The southern border begins just outside Kiriath Jearim and goes west, to the springs of Nephtoah. ¹⁶ Then the border descends to the foot of the mountain that overlooks the valley of Ben Hinnom, in the north end of the valley of Rephaim. It descends to the valley of Hinnom, to the south slope of the city of Jebus, and down to En Rogel. ¹⁷ Then it turns north and goes to En Shemesh and from there to the region opposite the Adummim Pass. It descends to the Rock of Bohan, son of Reuben. ¹⁸ Then it continues on to the north side of the slope facing the plains and down into the plains. ¹⁹ The border continues to the north slope of Beth Hoglah and ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea at the south end of the Jordan River. This is its southern border. ²⁰ The Jordan River is its eastern border. These are the borders surrounding the inheritance given to Benjamin for its families.

²¹ These are the 12 cities with their villages that belong to the tribe of Benjamin for its families: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz, ²² Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. ²⁵ There were 14 other cities with their villages: Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Ir Peel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zela, Eleph, Jebus (now called Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath. This is Benjamin’s inheritance for its families.

Simeon’s Land

19 The second lot was drawn for the families of the tribe of Simeon. Their inheritance was within Judah. ² In their inheritance they received 13 cities and their villages: Beersheba (Sheba), Moladah, ³ Hazar Shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth Marcaboth, Hazar Susah, ⁶ Beth Lebaoth, and Sharuhen. ⁷ There were four other cities with their villages: Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan. ⁸ All the villages around these cities as far as Baalath Beer and Ramath Negev were also included. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon for its families. ⁹ Simeon’s inheritance was a part of Judah’s because Judah had more land than it needed. So Simeon received its inheritance inside Judah’s borders.

Zebulun’s Land

¹⁰ The third lot was drawn for the families descended from Zebulun. The border of their inheritance goes as far as Sarid. ¹¹ Toward the west the border ascends to Maralah and touches Dabbesheth and the river near Jokneam. ¹² But from Sarid it turns directly east toward the border of Chisloth Tabor, on to Daberath, and then ascends toward Japhia. ¹³ From there it goes directly east to Gath Hepher, Eth Kazin, and Rimmon, where it turns to Neah. ¹⁴ There the border turns north to Hannathon and ends at the valley of Iphtah El. ¹⁵ This also includes Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem. There were 12 cities with their villages. ¹⁶ These cities with their villages are the inheritance given to the families descended from Zebulun.

Issachar’s Land

¹⁷ The fourth lot was drawn for the families descended from Issachar. ¹⁸ Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En Gannim, En Haddah, and Beth Pazzez. ²² The border touches Tabor, Shahazimah, and Beth Shemesh and ends at the Jordan River. There were 16 cities with their villages. ²³ These cities with their villages are the inheritance for the families of the tribe of Issachar.

Asher’s Land

²⁴ The fifth lot was drawn for the families of the tribe of Asher. ²⁵ Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. The border touches Carmel and Shihor Libnath in the west. ²⁷ Then it turns east to Beth Dagon and touches Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah El in the north and goes to Beth Emek and Neiel. From there it goes northward to Cabul, ²⁸ Abdon,^[a] Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, and as far as Great Sidon. ²⁹ Then it turns at Ramah and goes on to the fortified city of Tyre. The border then turns to Hosah and ends at the Mediterranean Sea. The territory includes Meheleb, Achzib, ³⁰ Umma, Acco, Aphek, and Rehob. There were 22 cities with their villages. ³¹ These cities with their villages are the inheritance for the families of the tribe of Asher.

Naphtali’s Land

³² The sixth lot was drawn for the families descended from the tribe of Naphtali. ³³ Their border starts from Heleph at the oak tree at Zaanannim. It continues to Adami Nekeb, Jabneel, to Lakkum, and ends at the Jordan River. ³⁴ The border turns west to Aznoth Tabor, and from there to Hukok. It touches Zebulun in the south, Asher in the west, and Judah in the east at the Jordan. ³⁵ The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En Hazor, ³⁸ Yiron, Migdal El, Horem, Beth Anath, and Beth Shemeth. There were 19 cities with their villages. ³⁹ These cities with their villages are the inheritance for the families of the tribe of Naphtali.

Dan’s Land

⁴⁰ The seventh lot was drawn for the families of the tribe of Dan. ⁴¹ The territory of their inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir Shemesh, ⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah, ⁴³ Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene Berak, Gath Rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me Jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border passing in front of Joppa. ⁴⁷ The border of Dan extended beyond them. Dan’s descendants went up and attacked Leshem, captured it, and killed everyone there. They took it, settled there, and renamed the city Dan after their ancestor Dan. ⁴⁸ These cities with their villages are the inheritance for the families of the tribe of Dan.

Special Land for Joshua

⁴⁹ When they all had finally received the land they were to inherit, the people of Israel also gave land within their territory as an inheritance to Joshua, son of Nun. ⁵⁰ They gave him the city he asked for, as the Lord had instructed them to do. It was Timnath Serah in the mountains of Ephraim. He rebuilt the city and lived there.

⁵¹ This is the land that the tribes of Israel drew by lot. The priest Eleazar, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the families divided the land by drawing lots. They did this in Shiloh in the presence of the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.