Joshua 21 — BSB
Double-click any dotted word for Hebrew/Greek — or press w on a selected verse.
Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites
21Verse 1Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of IsraelVerse 2at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, together with pasturelands for our livestock.”Verse 3So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:Verse 4The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.Verse 5The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.Verse 6The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.Verse 7And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.Verse 8So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.Verse 9From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by nameVerse 10to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:Verse 11They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)Verse 12But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.Verse 13So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,Verse 14Jattir, Eshtemoa,Verse 15Holon, Debir,Verse 16Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.Verse 17And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,Verse 18Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 19In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.Verse 20The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities:From the tribe of EphraimVerse 21they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,Verse 22Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 23From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,Verse 24Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 25And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 26In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.Verse 27This is what the Levite clans of the Gershonites were given:
From the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Golan in Bashan, a city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah—two cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 28From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,Verse 29Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 30From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,Verse 31Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 32And from the tribe of Naphtali they were given Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Hammoth-dor, and Kartan—three cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 33In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.Verse 34This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given:
From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,Verse 35Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 36From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,Verse 37Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.Verse 38And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,Verse 39Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.Verse 40In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.Verse 41For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.Verse 42Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.Verse 43Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.Verse 44And the LORD gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their fathers. None of their enemies could stand against them, for the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.Verse 45Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.