Joshua 21 (DBY)

1Then the chief fathers of the Levites drew near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief 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, Jehovah commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, and their suburbs 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, according to the word of Jehovah, 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 forth for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, 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 children of Kohath that remained 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 according to their families had by lot 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 and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded through 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 were mentioned by name,From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name

10and which the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, 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 Kirjath-Arba, which Arba was the father of Anak, that is, Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, with its suburbs 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 hamlets 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.

13And they gave to the children of Aaron the priest the city of refuge for the slayer, Hebron and its suburbs; and Libnah and its 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 and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs,Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs,Holon, Debir,

16and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh and its 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 and its suburbs, Geba and its suburbs,And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

18Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its 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 and their suburbs.In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the priests, the descendants of Aaron.

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

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

22and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-horon and its suburbs: four cities;Kibzaim, and Beth-horon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

23and out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs,From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

24Ajalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: four cities;Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

25and out of half the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs and Gath-Rimmon and its 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 and 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 half the tribe of Manasseh, they gave the city of refuge for the slayer, Golan in Bashan and its suburbs; and Beeshterah and its 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, Kishion and its suburbs, Dabrath and its suburbs,From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

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

30and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its suburbs, Abdon and its suburbs,From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

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

32and out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge for the slayer, Kedesh in Galilee, and its suburbs; and Hammoth-Dor and its suburbs, and Kartan and its 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 and 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, that remained of the Levites, they gave out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its suburbs, Kartah and its 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 and its suburbs, Nahalal and its suburbs: four cities;Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

36and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its suburbs, and Jahzah and its suburbs,From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

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

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

39Heshbon and its suburbs, Jaazer and its suburbs: four cities in all.Heshbon, and Jazer—four cities in all, together with their pasturelands.

40These were all the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, which remained of the families of the Levites, and their lot was 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-eight cities and their suburbs.For the Levites, then, there were forty-eight cities in all, together with their pasturelands, within the territory of the Israelites.

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

43And Jehovah gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give unto their fathers; and they took possession of it, and dwelt in it.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 Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he had sworn unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them: Jehovah gave 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 nothing of all the good things that Jehovah 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