Chronological Plan

¹Then the second lot fell to Simeon, to the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families (clans), and their inheritance was within the inheritance of the sons of Judah.

²So they had as their inheritance Beersheba or Sheba and Moladah,

³and Hazar-shual and Balah and Ezem,

⁴and Eltolad and Bethul and Hormah,

⁵and Ziklag and Beth-marcaboth and Hazar-susah,

⁶and Beth-lebaoth and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages;

⁷Ain, Rimmon and Ether and Ashan; four cities with their villages;

⁸and all the villages which were around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negev (South country). This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families.

⁹The inheritance of the sons of Simeon was taken from the portion of the sons of Judah, for the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; so the sons of Simeon received an inheritance within Judah's inheritance.

¹⁰The third lot came up for [the tribe of] the sons of Zebulun according to their families. The territory of their inheritance extended to Sarid.

¹¹Then its border went up westward and on to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth and reached to the brook east of Jokneam.

¹²Then it turned from Sarid east toward the sunrise as far as the border of Chisloth-tabor, and it proceeded to Daberath and on up to Japhia.

¹³From there it continued east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher and to Eth-kazin, and proceeded to Rimmon which turns toward Neah.

¹⁴The border circled it on the north to Hannathon, ending at the Valley of Iphtahel.

¹⁵Included were Kattah and Nahalal and Shimron and Idalah and Bethlehem; twelve cities with their villages.

¹⁶This was the inheritance of the sons of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

¹⁷The fourth lot fell to [the tribe of] Issachar, to the sons of Issachar according to their families.

¹⁸Their territory included: Jezreel and Chesulloth and Shunem,

¹⁹and Hapharaim and Shion and Anaharath,

²⁰and Rabbith and Kishion and Ebez,

²¹and Remeth and En-gannim and En-haddah and Beth-pazzez.

²²The border reached to Tabor and Shahazumah and Beth-shemesh, and their border ended at the Jordan; sixteen cities with their villages.

²³This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Issachar according to their families, the cities and their villages.

²⁴The fifth lot fell to the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families.

²⁵Their territory was Helkath and Hali and Beten and Achshaph,

²⁶and Allammelech and Amad and Mishal; and on the west it reached to Carmel and to Shihor-libnath.

²⁷Then it turned eastward to Beth-dagon and reached Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel, and continued in the north to Cabul,

²⁸and Ebron and Rehob and Hammon and Kanah, as far as Great Sidon.

²⁹Then the border turned to Ramah, [reaching] to the fortified city of Tyre; and it turned to Hosah, and it ended at the [Mediterranean] sea at the region of Achzib.

³⁰Included were Ummah, and Aphek and Rehob; twenty-two cities with their villages.

³¹This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

³²The sixth lot fell to [the tribe of] the sons of Naphtali according to their families.

³³Their border ran from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim and Adami-nekeb and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan.

³⁴Then the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor and went from there to Hukkok; and it reached Zebulun on the south and reached Asher on the west, and to Judah toward the east at the Jordan.

³⁵The fortified cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath and Chinnereth,

³⁶and Adamah and Ramah and Hazor,

³⁷and Kedesh and Edrei and En-hazor,

³⁸and Yiron and Migdal-el, Horem and Beth-anath and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.

³⁹This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Naphtali according to their families, the cities and their villages.

⁴⁰The seventh lot fell to the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families.

⁴¹The territory of their inheritance included Zorah and Eshtaol and Ir-shemesh,

⁴²and Shaalabbin and Aijalon and Ithlah,

⁴³and Elon and Timnah and Ekron,

⁴⁴and Eltekeh and Gibbethon and Baalath,

⁴⁵and Jehud and Bene-berak and Gath-rimmon,

⁴⁶and Me-jarkon and Rakkon, with the territory opposite Joppa.

⁴⁷The territory of the sons of Dan went beyond these; so the sons of Dan went up to fight against Leshem (Laish) and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and took possession of it and settled there [between the tribes of Naphtali and Manasseh]; they renamed Leshem, Dan, after the name of their father (ancestor) Dan.

⁴⁸This was the inheritance of the tribe of the sons of Dan according to their families (clans), these cities with their villages.

⁴⁹When they had finished dividing the land for inheritance by its borders, the Israelites gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.

⁵⁰According to the command of the LORD they gave him the city for which he asked—Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. So he built the city and settled in it.

⁵¹These are the inheritances which Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel distributed by lot in Shiloh before the LORD at the doorway of the Tent of Meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

¹The LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

²"Speak to the Israelites, saying, 'Designate the cities of refuge (asylum), of which I spoke to you through Moses,

³so that the person (manslayer) who kills any person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall be your refuge from the blood avenger.

⁴He shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city and explain his case to the elders of that city; and they shall take him into [the protection of] the city and give him a place [to stay], so that he may live among them.

⁵If the blood avenger pursues him, they shall not hand the offender (manslayer) over to him, because he killed his neighbor unintentionally and without premeditation and did not hate him beforehand.

⁶He shall live in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment [and if acquitted of murder he must stay there], until the death of the one who is the high priest in those days. Then the offender (manslayer) shall return to his own city and his own house from which he fled.'"

⁷So they set apart and consecrated Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸Beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they designated Bezer in the wilderness on the plain from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan from the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These were the appointed cities for all the Israelites and for the stranger sojourning (living temporarily) among them, so that whoever killed any person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the blood avenger until he had stood before the congregation [for judgment].

¹Then the heads of the households of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

²They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, "The LORD commanded Moses to give us cities to live in, with their pasture lands for our cattle."

³So the sons of Israel gave the Levites from their inheritance these [forty-eight] cities and their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the LORD.

⁴The [first] lot (allotment) came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were sons (descendants) of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Judah and from the tribe of Simeon and from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵The rest of the sons of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim and from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶The sons of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher and from the tribe of Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The sons of Merari according to their families received twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸The sons of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasture lands, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

⁹They gave these cities which are mentioned here by name from the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon;

¹⁰and they were for the sons of Aaron, one of the families of the Kohathites, of the sons of Levi, because the lot fell to them first.

¹¹They gave them [the city of] Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah, with its surrounding pasture lands.

¹²But the fields of the city and its villages they had given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his property.

¹³So to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Libnah with its pasture lands,

¹⁴and Jattir with its pasture lands and Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

¹⁵and Holon with its pasture lands and Debir with its pasture lands,

¹⁶and Ain with its pasture lands and Juttah with its pasture lands and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes (Judah and Simeon).

¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, and Geba with its pasture lands,

¹⁸Anathoth with its pasture lands and Almon with its pasture lands; four cities.

¹⁹All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

²⁰Then the cities from the tribe of Ephraim were allotted to the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites, even to the rest of the sons of Kohath.

²¹They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, in the hill country of Ephraim, and Gezer with its pasture lands,

²²and Kibzaim with its pasture lands and Beth-horon with its pasture lands; four cities.

²³From the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands,

²⁴Aijalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; four cities.

²⁵From the half-tribe of Manasseh, they allotted Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands; two cities.

²⁶All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the sons of Kohath totaled ten.

²⁷To the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, they gave from the other half-tribe of Manasseh, [the city of] Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.

²⁸From the tribe of Issachar, they gave Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands,

²⁹Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands; four cities.

³⁰From the tribe of Asher, they gave Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands,

³¹Helkath with its pasture lands and Rehob with its pasture lands; four cities.

³²From the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands and Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands and Kartan with its pasture lands; three cities.

³³All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴To the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands and Kartah with its pasture lands,

³⁵Dimnah with its pasture lands and Nahalal with its pasture lands; four cities.

³⁶From the tribe of Reuben, they gave Bezer with its pasture lands and Jahaz with its pasture lands,

³⁷Kedemoth with its pasture lands and Mephaath with its pasture lands; four cities.

³⁸From the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for anyone who committed manslaughter, with its pasture lands and Mahanaim with its pasture lands,

³⁹Heshbon with its pasture lands and Jazer with its pasture lands; four cities in all.

⁴⁰All [these were] the cities of the sons of Merari according to their families, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their lot was twelve cities.

⁴¹All the cities of the Levites in the midst of the property of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.

⁴²These cities each had its surrounding pasture lands; so it was with all these cities.

⁴³So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers (ancestors), and they took possession of it and lived in it.

⁴⁴The LORD gave them rest [from conflict] on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and not one of all their enemies stood before them [in battle]; the LORD handed over all their enemies to them.

⁴⁵Not one of the good promises which the LORD had spoken to the house of Israel failed; all had come to pass.