Joshua 21 (AKJV)

1Then came near the heads of the fathers of the Levites to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;Now the family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the other tribes of Israel

2And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with the suburbs thereof for our cattle.at 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.”

3And the children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.So by the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance:

4And the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites: and the children of Aaron the priest, which were of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.The 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.

5And the rest of the children of Kohath had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7The children of Merari by their families had out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8And the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.So the Israelites allotted to the Levites these cities, together with their pasturelands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

9And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which are here mentioned by name.From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name

10Which the children of Aaron, being of the families of the Kohathites, who were of the children of Levi, had: for theirs was the first lot.to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

11And they gave them the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with the suburbs thereof round about it.They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the father of Anak.)

12But the fields of the city, and the villages thereof, gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest Hebron with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Libnah with her suburbs,So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave these cities, together with their pasturelands: Hebron, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Libnah,

14And Jattir with her suburbs, and Eshtemoa with her suburbs,Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15And Holon with her suburbs, and Debir with her suburbs,Holon, Debir,

16And Ain with her suburbs, and Juttah with her suburbs, and Bethshemesh with her suburbs; nine cities out of those two tribes.Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

17And out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with her suburbs, Geba with her suburbs,And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

18Anathoth with her suburbs, and Almon with her suburbs; four cities.Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

19All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their suburbs.In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

20And the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites which remained of the children of Kohath, even they had the cities of their lot out of the tribe of Ephraim.The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim

21For they gave them Shechem with her suburbs in mount Ephraim, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Gezer with her suburbs,they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

22And Kibzaim with her suburbs, and Bethhoron with her suburbs; four cities.Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

23And out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with her suburbs, Gibbethon with her suburbs,From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

24Aijalon with her suburbs, Gathrimmon with her suburbs; four cities.Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

25And out of the half tribe of Manasseh, Tanach with her suburbs, and Gathrimmon with her suburbs; two cities.And from the half-tribe of Manasseh they were given Taanach and Gath-rimmon—two cities, together with their pasturelands.

26All the cities were ten with their suburbs for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

27And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of the other half tribe of Manasseh they gave Golan in Bashan with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Beeshterah with her suburbs; two cities.This 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.

28And out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishon with her suburbs, Dabareh with her suburbs,From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

29Jarmuth with her suburbs, Engannim with her suburbs; four cities.Jarmuth, and En-gannim—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

30And out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with her suburbs, Abdon with her suburbs,From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

31Helkath with her suburbs, and Rehob with her suburbs; four cities.Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

32And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Hammothdor with her suburbs, and Kartan with her suburbs; three cities.And 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.

33All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their suburbs.In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

34And to the families of the children of Merari, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with her suburbs, and Kartah with her suburbs,This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

35Dimnah with her suburbs, Nahalal with her suburbs; four cities.Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

36And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with her suburbs, and Jahazah with her suburbs,From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

37Kedemoth with her suburbs, and Mephaath with her suburbs; four cities.Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

38And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with her suburbs, to be a city of refuge for the slayer; and Mahanaim with her suburbs,And from the tribe of Gad they were given Ramoth in Gilead, a city of refuge for the manslayer, Mahanaim,

39Heshbon with her suburbs, Jazer with her suburbs; four cities in all.Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

40So all the cities for the children of Merari by their families, which were remaining of the families of the Levites, were by their lot twelve cities.In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

41All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty and eight cities with their suburbs.For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.

42These cities were every one with their suburbs round about them: thus were all these cities.Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

43And the LORD gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelled therein.Thus the LORD gave Israel all the land He had sworn to give their fathers, and they took possession of it and settled in it.

44And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that he swore to their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.And 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.

45There failed not anything of any good thing which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel; all came to pass.Not one of all the LORD’s good promises to the house of Israel had failed; everything was fulfilled.

Joshua 21

Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

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Joshua 21

Forty-Eight Cities for the Levites

You’ve read Joshua 21

Go Deeper