Joshua 18-19

Common English Bible

Remainder of the land

18 The whole community of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the meeting tent there. The conquered land lay before them. ² Among the Israelites, seven tribes were left that had not yet received their legacy. ³ Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you avoid going to take over the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? ⁴ Pick out three men for each tribe. I will send them out, and they will go up and travel throughout the land. They will write a description of it as the basis for determining their legacy. Then they will come back to me. ⁵ They will divide up the land among themselves into seven portions. Judah will stay on its territory to the south. The house of Joseph will stay on their territory to the north. ⁶ But you will write a report in seven parts and bring the report back here to me. Then I will cast the lot for you here, before the Lord our God. ⁷ However, there won’t be a portion among you for the Levites because their legacy is the priesthood of the Lord. Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already received their legacy on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the Lord’s servant gave it to them.”

⁸ When the men had prepared to go, Joshua gave orders to those going to write a description of the land. “Go and travel around the land, write about it, and return to me. I will cast the lot for you before the Lord here in Shiloh.” ⁹ So the men went and passed through the land and wrote about it in a document, city by city, in seven sections. They came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. ¹⁰ Then Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord. There Joshua divided up the shares of the land for the Israelites.

Border of Benjamin

¹¹ The lot for the clans of the Benjaminite tribe appeared first. The border of their allotment went out between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. ¹² Their border on the north side ran from the Jordan. The border went up to the slope of Jericho on the north. It went up westward in the highlands and ended at the wasteland of Beth-aven. ¹³ The border passed on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz on the south (that is, Bethel). The border went down to Ataroth-adar on the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-horon. ¹⁴ The border turned and came around southward on the west side, running from the mountain that is opposite Beth-horon on the south. It ended at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city of the people of Judah. This was its west side.

¹⁵ The south side ran from the limits of Kiriath-jearim. The border went out westward. It then proceeded to the waters of Nephtoah Spring. ¹⁶ The border went down to the foot of the mountain that is opposite the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the north part of the Rephaim Valley. It went down through the Hinnom Valley to the slope of the Jebusite city on the south. It then went down to En-rogel. ¹⁷ It turned northward. Then it went to En-shemesh and then to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. It went down to the Stone of Bohan (Reuben’s son). ¹⁸ It passed on to the slope of Beth-arabah^[a] on the north and went down into the desert plain. ¹⁹ The border passed on to the slope of Beth-hoglah on the north. The border ended at the north bay of the Dead Sea, at the southern mouth of the Jordan. This was the southern border. ²⁰ The Jordan bordered it on the east side. This is the legacy of the Benjaminite clans according to its borders.

Cities of Benjamin

²¹ The cities of the clans of the Benjaminite tribe are Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²² Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. In total: twelve cities and their surrounding areas.

²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zela, Haeleph, the Jebusite city (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath. In total: fourteen cities and their surrounding areas. This is the legacy of the Benjaminite clans.

Simeon

19 The second lot fell to Simeon. The legacy of the clans of the Simeonite tribe lay inside the legacy of the people of Judah. ² They had in their legacy: Beer-sheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, ⁶ Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen. In total: thirteen cities and their surrounding areas. ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan. In total: four cities and their surrounding areas. ⁸ In addition were all the areas that surround these cities as far as Baalath-beer and Ramah of the arid southern plain. This is the legacy of the clans of the Simeonite tribe. ⁹ Some of the portion of the people of Judah belonged to the legacy of the people of Simeon. This was because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them. So the people of Simeon received a legacy inside Judah’s legacy.

Zebulun

¹⁰ The lot turned up third for the clans of Zebulun. The border of their legacy ran as far as Sarid. ¹¹ Their border went up westward to Maralah, touched Dabbesheth, and touched the ravine that is opposite Jokneam. ¹² It reversed from Sarid eastward toward the east to the border of Chisloth-tabor. It went to Daberath and then up to Japhia. ¹³ From there it passed on the east side, running eastward to Gath-hepher and Eth-kazin. Going to Rimmon, it bent toward Neah. ¹⁴ The border turned north of Hannathon and ended at the Iphtah-el Valley. ¹⁵ They also owned Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem; in total: twelve cities and their surrounding areas. ¹⁶ These cities and their surrounding areas are the legacy of Zebulun’s clans.

Issachar

¹⁷ The lot went out fourth for the clans of Issachar. ¹⁸ Their border ran toward Jezreel. They also owned Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez. ²² The border touched Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh. Their border ended at the Jordan; in total: sixteen cities with their surrounding areas. ²³ These cities and their surrounding areas are the legacy for the clans of the Issachar tribe.

Asher

²⁴ The lot went out fifth for the clans of the tribe of Asher. ²⁵ Their border included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. It touched Carmel on the west and Shihor-libnath. ²⁷ The border reversed eastward to Beth-dagon. It touched Zebulun and the Iphtah-el Valley on the north, also Beth-emek and Neiel. It went to Cabul on the north, ²⁸ as far as Great Sidon. They also owned Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, and Kanah. ²⁹ The border turned around to Ramah as far as the fortified city of Tyre. The border turned around to Hosah and ended at the sea. They also owned Mahalab,^[b] Achzib, ³⁰ Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob; in total: twenty-two cities and their surrounding areas. ³¹ These cities and their surrounding areas are the legacy for the clans of the Asher tribe.

Naphtali

³² For the people of Naphtali, the lot went out sixth. For the clans of Naphtali ³³ their border ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim and Adami-nekeb and Jabneel as far as Lakkum. It ended at the Jordan. ³⁴ The border reversed westward to Aznoth-tabor. It went from there to Hukkok. It touched Zebulun on the south, Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan on the east. ³⁵ They also owned the fortified cities Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh; in total: nineteen cities and their surrounding areas. ³⁹ These cities and their surrounding areas are the legacy for the clans of the Naphtali tribe.

Dan

⁴⁰ The lot went out seventh for the clans of the Danite tribe. ⁴¹ The territory of their legacy was 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, along with the territory opposite Joppa. ⁴⁷ But the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them. So the people of Dan went up and attacked Leshem and captured it. They struck it down without mercy. They took it over and settled it. Then they named Leshem as Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. ⁴⁸ These cities and their surrounding areas are the legacy for the clans of the Danite tribe.

Legacy for Joshua

⁴⁹ So when they finished assigning the borders of the land, the Israelites gave to Joshua, Nun’s son, a legacy among them. ⁵⁰ By the Lord’s command, they gave him the city that he asked for. This was Timnath-serah in the highlands of Ephraim. He built a city and lived in it. ⁵¹ These are the legacies that Eleazar the priest, Joshua, Nun’s son, and the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes assigned by lot at Shiloh. They did this before the Lord at the entrance of the meeting tent and finished dividing up the land.