The Territories of the Remaining Tribes

18 Then the whole congregation of the Israelites assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.^(A)

² There remained among the Israelites seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. ³ So Joshua said to the Israelites, “How long will you be slack about going in and taking possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you?^{(B) 4} Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may begin to go throughout the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances. Then come back to me. ⁵ They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in its territory on the south and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north.^{(C) 6} You shall write a description of the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord our God. ⁷ The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage, and Gad and Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.”^(D)

⁸ So the men started on their way, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go throughout the land and write a description of it and come back to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the Lord in Shiloh.”^{(E) 9} So the men went and traversed the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came back to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh, ¹⁰ and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the Lord, and there Joshua apportioned the land to the Israelites, to each a portion.^(F)

The Territory of Benjamin

¹¹ The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph. ¹² On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the slope of Jericho on the north, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-aven. ¹³ From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the slope of Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-horon.^{(G) 14} Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), a town belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side.^{(H) 15} The southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim on the west,^[a] and the boundary comes out at the spring of the Waters of Nephtoah;^{(I) 16} then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Rephaim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and downward to En-rogel;^{(J) 17} then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim; then it goes down to the Stone of Bohan, Reuben’s son; ¹⁸ and passing on to the north of the slope of Beth-arabah^[b] it goes down to the Arabah; ¹⁹ then the boundary passes on to the north of the slope of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,^[c] at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. ²⁰ The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary all around.^(K)

²¹ Now the towns of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, ²² Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, ²³ Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, ²⁴ Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, and Geba—twelve towns with their villages; ²⁵ Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, ²⁶ Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, ²⁷ Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, ²⁸ Zela, Haeleph, Jebus^[d] (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah,^[e] and Kiriath-jearim^[f]—fourteen towns with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.^(L)

The Territory of Simeon

19 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; its inheritance lay within the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.^{(M) 2} It had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Moladah, ³ Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, ⁴ Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, ⁵ Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah,^{(N) 6} Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen towns with their villages; ⁷ Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four towns with their villages; ⁸ together with all the villages all around these towns as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families. ⁹ The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance within their inheritance.^(O)

The Territory of Zebulun

¹⁰ The third lot came up for the tribe of Zebulun, according to its families. The boundary of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid; ¹¹ then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Maralah, and touches Dabbesheth, then the wadi that is near Jokneam;^{(P) 12} from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor; from there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia; ¹³ from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah; ¹⁴ then on the north the boundary makes a turn to Hannathon, and it ends at the valley of Iphtah-el; ¹⁵ and Kattath, Nahalal, Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve towns with their villages.^{(Q) 16} This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zebulun, according to its families, these towns with their villages.

The Territory of Issachar

¹⁷ The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the tribe of Issachar, according to its families.^{(R) 18} Its territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, Shunem, ¹⁹ Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, ²⁰ Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, ²¹ Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez; ²² the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen towns with their villages. ²³ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Issachar, according to its families, the towns with their villages.

The Territory of Asher

²⁴ The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families. ²⁵ Its boundary included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, ²⁶ Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-libnath, ²⁷ then it turns eastward, goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the valley of Iphtah-el northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it continues in the north to Cabul, ²⁸ Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Great Sidon;^{(S) 29} then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahaleb,^[g] Achzib, ³⁰ Ummah, Aphek, and Rehob—twenty-two towns with their villages.^{(T) 31} This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families, these towns with their villages.

The Territory of Naphtali

³² The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naphtali, for the tribe of Naphtali according to its families. ³³ And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan; ³⁴ then the boundary turns westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan.^{(U) 35} The fortified towns are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chinnereth, ³⁶ Adamah, Ramah, Hazor, ³⁷ Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, ³⁸ Iron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen towns with their villages. ³⁹ This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naphtali according to its families, the towns with their villages.

The Territory of Dan

⁴⁰ The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan according to its families. ⁴¹ The territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, ⁴² Shaalabbin, Aijalon, Ithlah,^{(V) 43} Elon, Timnah, Ekron, ⁴⁴ Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, ⁴⁵ Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, ⁴⁶ Me-jarkon, and Rakkon at the border opposite Joppa. ⁴⁷ When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword, they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem Dan, after their ancestor Dan.^{(W) 48} This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families, these towns with their villages.

Joshua’s Inheritance

⁴⁹ When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the Israelites gave an inheritance among them to Joshua son of Nun. ⁵⁰ By command of the Lord they gave him the town that he asked for, Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim; he rebuilt the town and settled in it.^(X)

⁵¹ These are the inheritances that the priest Eleazar and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the families of the tribes of the Israelites distributed by lot at Shiloh before the Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.^(Y)