Joshua 12-13

Complete Jewish Bible

12 These are the kings of the land whom the people of Isra’el defeated and of whose land they took possession, across the Yarden toward the east, from the Arnon Valley to Mount Hermon and all the ‘Aravah eastward:

² Sichon king of the Emori, who lived in Heshbon and ruled the territory that includes ‘Aro‘er, at the edge of the Arnon Valley; the middle of the valley; half of Gil‘ad, to the Yabok River, which forms the border with the people of ‘Amon; ³ the ‘Aravah to Lake Kinneret eastward and to the sea of the ‘Aravah, the Dead Sea, eastward by way of Beit-Yeshimot and on the south under the slopes of Pisgah.

⁴ There was also the territory of ‘Og king of Bashan, who belonged to the remnant of the Refa’im. He lived at ‘Ashtarot and at Edre‘i; ⁵ and he ruled Mount Hermon; Salkhah; all Bashan, to the border with the G’shuri and the Ma‘akhati; and half of Gil‘ad, to its border with Sichon king of Heshbon.

⁶ Moshe the servant of Adonai, with the people of Isra’el, defeated them; and Moshe the servant of Adonai gave it to the Re’uveni, the Gadi and the half-tribe of M’nasheh as their possession.

^7-8 Following are the kings of the land whom Y’hoshua, with the people of Isra’el, defeated in the area west of the Yarden, between Ba‘al-Gad in the L’vanon Valley and the bare mountain that goes up to Se‘ir. Y’hoshua gave this land, inhabited by the Hitti, Emori, Kena‘ani, P’rizi, Hivi and Y’vusi, to the tribes of Isra’el to possess, according to their divisions, in the hills, the Sh’felah, the ‘Aravah, the mountain slopes, the desert and the Negev:

making a total of thirty-one kings.

13 Now Y’hoshua was old; the years had taken their toll. Adonai said to him, “You are old, and the years have taken their toll; but there is yet a great deal of land to be possessed.

² “This is the land that still remains: all the regions of the P’lishtim and all the G’shuri, ³ from the Shichor which fronts Egypt, to the border of ‘Ekron (northward from there the land is considered as belonging to the Kena‘ani) — that is, the territory of the rulers of the P’lishtim in ‘Azah, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gat and ‘Ekron; also the ‘Avim ⁴ to the south; all the land of the Kena‘ani; Me‘arah, which belongs to the Tzidonim, as far as Afek and on to the border with the Emori; ⁵ the land of the Givli; all the L’vanon eastward, from Ba‘al-Gad at the foot of Mount Hermon to the entrance of Hamat.

⁶ “As for the inhabitants of the hills between the L’vanon and Misrefot-Mayim, that is, all the Tzidonim, I myself will expel them ahead of the people of Isra’el; all you have to do is assign it to Isra’el as an inheritance, as I have ordered you. ⁷ So now, divide this land as an inheritance for the nine tribes and the half-tribe of M’nasheh.”

⁸ With the half-tribe of M’nasheh, the Re’uveni and the Gadi received their inheritance, which Moshe had given them, beyond the Yarden eastward, just as Moshe the servant of Adonai had given them — ⁹ from ‘Aro‘er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau between Meidva and Divon, ¹⁰ and all the cities of Sichon king of the Emori who ruled in Heshbon to the border with the people of ‘Amon; ¹¹ and Gil‘ad, the territory of the G’shuri and Ma‘akhati, all Mount Hermon, all Bashan as far as Salkhah — ¹² that is, all the kingdom of ‘Og in Bashan, who ruled in ‘Ashtarot and Edre‘i. ‘Og was one of those remaining from the Refa’im, whom Moshe defeated and expelled. ¹³ However, the people of Isra’el expelled neither the G’shuri nor the Ma‘akhati, with the consequence that G’shur and Ma‘akhat have lived among Isra’el to this day.

¹⁴ Only to the tribe of Levi did Moshe give no inheritance; because the offerings made by fire for Adonai the God of Isra’el are its inheritance; as [Adonai] had said to Moshe.

¹⁵ Moshe gave land to the tribe of the descendants of Re’uven by clans. ¹⁶ Their territory included ‘Aro‘er on the edge of the Arnon Valley, the city in the middle of the valley, all the plateau near Meidva, ¹⁷ Heshbon and its villages on the plateau, Divon, Bamot-Ba‘al, Beit-Ba‘al-M‘on, ¹⁸ Yahatz, K’demot, Mefa‘at, ¹⁹ Kiryatayim, Sivmah, Tzeret-Shachar at the top of the valley, ²⁰ Beit-P‘or, the slopes of Pisgah, Beit-Yeshimot, ²¹ all the cities of the plateau — all the kingdom of Sichon king of the Emori, who ruled in Heshbon. Moshe defeated him with the chiefs of Midyan, along with Evi, Rekem, Tzur, Hur and Reva the princes of Sichon who lived in the land. ²² Along with the others the people of Isra’el killed with the sword, they also struck down Bil‘am the son of B‘or, who practiced divination. ²³ The Yarden formed the border for the descendants of Re’uven. This was the inheritance of the descendants of Re’uven by clans, with its cities and villages.

²⁴ Moshe gave land to the tribe of the Gad, to the descendants of Gad by clans. ²⁵ Their territory included Ya‘zer; all the cities of Gil‘ad; half the land of the people of ‘Amon, as far as ‘Aro‘er fronting Rabbah — ²⁶ that is, from Heshbon to Ramot-Mitzpeh and B’tonim; and from Machanayim to the border of Lidvir; ²⁷ while in the valley it included Beit-Haram, Beit-Nimrah, Sukkot and Tzafon — in other words, the rest of the kingdom of Sichon king of Heshbon; with the Yarden to the far end of Lake Kinneret as its border, their territory extended eastward. ²⁸ This is the inheritance of the descendants of Gad by clans, with its cities and villages.

²⁹ Moshe gave an inheritance to the half-tribe of the M’nasheh; it was for the half-tribe of the descendants of M’nasheh by clans. ³⁰ Their territory included Machanayim and all of Bashan — that is, all the kingdom of ‘Og king of Bashan; all the villages of Ya’ir in Bashan, sixty cities; ³¹ half of Gil‘ad; and ‘Ashtarot and Edre‘i, the cities of the kingdom of ‘Og in Bashan. All this was for the descendants of Makhir the son of M’nasheh, or, rather, for half of the descendants of Makhir, by clans.

³² These are the inheritances which Moshe distributed in the plains of Mo’av, beyond the Yarden and Yericho, eastward. ³³ But to the tribe of Levi Moshe gave no inheritance; Adonai the God of Isra’el is their inheritance — as he told them.