Joshua 21 (DRA)

1Then the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar the priest, and to Josue the son of Nun, and to the princes of the kindreds of all 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 in Silo in the land of Chanaan, and said: The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given us to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed 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 out of their possessions according to the commandment of the Lord, 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 family of Caath of the children of Aaron the priest out of the tribes of Juda, and of Simeon, and 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 to the rest of the children of Caath, that is, to the Levites, who remained, out of the tribes of Ephraim, and of Dan, and the half tribe of Manasses, 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 lot came out to the children of Gerson, that they should take of the tribes of Issachar and of Aser and of Nephtali, and of the half tribe of Manasses in Basan, 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.

7And to the sons of Merari by their kindreds, of the tribes of Ruben and or Cad and of Zabulon, twelve cities.And the descendants of Merari received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

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

9Of the tribes of the children of Juda and of Simeon Josue gave cities: whose names are these,From the tribes of Judah and Simeon, they designated these cities by name

10To the sons of Aaron, of the families of Caath of the race of Levi (for the first lot came out for them)to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them:

11The city of Arbe the father of Enac, which is called Hebron, in the mountain of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about.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 and the villages thereof he had given to Caleb the son of Jephone for his possession.But they had given the fields and villages around the city to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13He gave therefore to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron a city of refuge, and the suburbs thereof: and Lobna with the suburbs thereof,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 Jether and Estemo,Jattir, Eshtemoa,

15And Holon, and Dabir,Holon, Debir,

16And Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs: nine cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said.Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh—nine cities from these two tribes, together with their pasturelands.

17And out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, Gabaon, and Gabae,And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon, Geba,

18And Anathoth and Almon, with their suburbs: four cities.Anathoth, and Almon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

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

20And to the rest of the families of the children of Caath of the race of Levi was given this possession.The remaining Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted these cities: From the tribe of Ephraim

21Of the tribe of Ephraim, Sichem one of the cities of refuge, with the suburbs thereof in mount Ephraim, and Cater,they were given Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim (a city of refuge for the manslayer), Gezer,

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

23And of the tribe of Dan, Eltheco and Gabathon,From the tribe of Dan they were given Elteke, Gibbethon,

24And Aialon and Gethremmon, with their suburbs, four cities.Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

25And of the half tribe of Manasses, Thanac and Gethremmon, with their 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, which were given to the children of Caath, of the inferior degree.In all, ten cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the rest of the Kohathite clans.

27To the children of Gerson also of the race of Levi out of the half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon in Basan, one of the cities of refuge, and Bosra, with their 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 of the tribe of Issachar, Cesion, and Dabereth,From the tribe of Issachar they were given Kishion, Daberath,

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

30And of the tribe of Aser, Masal and Abdon,From the tribe of Asher they were given Mishal, Abdon,

31And Helcath, and Rohob, with their suburbs, four cities.Helkath, and Rehob—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

32Of the tribe also of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee, one of the cities of refuge: and Hammoth Dor, and Carthan, with their 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 families of Gerson, were thirteen, with their suburbs.In all, thirteen cities, together with their pasturelands, were given to the Gershonite clans.

34And to the children of Merari, Levites of the inferior degree, by their families were given of the tribe of Zabulon, Jecnam and Cartha,This is what the Merarite clan (the rest of the Levites) were given: From the tribe of Zebulun they were given Jokneam, Kartah,

35And Damna and Naalol, four cities with their suburbs;Dimnah, and Nahalal—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

36Of the tribe of Ruben beyond the Jordan over against Jericho, Bosor in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Miser and Jaser and Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs.From the tribe of Reuben they were given Bezer, Jahaz,

37Of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad, one of the cities of refuge, and Manaim and Hesebon and Jaser, four cities with their suburbs.Kedemoth, and Mephaath—four cities, together with their pasturelands.

40All the cities of the children of Merari by their families and kindreds, were twelve.In all, twelve cities were allotted to the clans of Merari, the remaining Levite clans.

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

42With their suburbs, each distributed by the families.Each of these cities had its own surrounding pasturelands; this was true for all the cities.

43And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn to give to their fathers: and they possessed 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 he gave them peace from all nations round about: and none of their enemies durst stand against them, but were brought under their dominion.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.

45Not so much as one word, which he had promised to perform unto them, was made void, but 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