Chronological Plan

¹Then the second lot went to Simeon, to the tribe of the sons of Simeon according to their families; and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the sons of Judah.

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

³Hazar-shual, Balah, and Ezem,

⁴Eltolad, Bethul, and Hormah,

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

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

⁷Ain, Rimmon, 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. 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, because the share of the sons of Judah was too large for them; so the sons of Simeon received an inheritance in the midst of Judah’s inheritance.

¹⁰Now the third lot came up for the sons of Zebulun according to their families. And the territory of their inheritance was as far as Sarid.

¹¹Then their border went up to the west and to Maralah, and it reached Dabbesheth and reached to the brook that is opposite Jokneam.

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

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

¹⁴Then the border circled around it on the north to Hannathon, and it ended at the Valley of Iphtahel.

¹⁵Included also were Kattah, Nahalal, Shimron, 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 went to Issachar, to the sons of Issachar according to their families.

¹⁸Their territory was to Jezreel and included Chesulloth, Shunem,

¹⁹Hapharaim, Shion, and Anaharath,

²⁰Rabbith, Kishion, and Ebez,

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

²²The border reached to Tabor, 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 with their villages.

²⁴Now the fifth lot went to the tribe of the sons of Asher according to their families.

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

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

²⁷It turned toward the east to Beth-dagon and reached Zebulun, and to the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; then it proceeded on north to Cabul,

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

²⁹The border turned to Ramah and to the fortified city of Tyre; then the border turned to Hosah, and it ended at the sea by the region of Achzib.

³⁰Included also were Ummah, 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 went to the sons of Naphtali; to the sons of Naphtali according to their families.

³³Their border was 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 proceeded from there to Hukkok; and it reached Zebulun on the south and reached Asher on the west, and Judah at the Jordan toward the east.

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

³⁶Adamah, Ramah, and Hazor,

³⁷Kedesh, Edrei, and En-hazor,

³⁸Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, 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 with their villages.

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

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

⁴²Shaalabbin, Aijalon, and Ithlah,

⁴³Elon, Timnah, and Ekron,

⁴⁴Eltekeh, Gibbethon, and Baalath,

⁴⁵Jehud, Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon,

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

⁴⁷The territory of the sons of Dan proceeded beyond them; for the sons of Dan went up and fought with Leshem and captured it. Then they struck it with the edge of the sword and took possession of it and settled in it; and they named Leshem Dan after the name of their father Dan.

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

⁴⁹When they finished apportioning the land for inheritance by its borders, the sons of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.

⁵⁰In accordance with 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 fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel apportioned by lot in Shiloh before the LORD at the doorway of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

¹Then the LORD spoke to Joshua, saying,

²“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘Designate the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,

³so that one who commits manslaughter by killing a person unintentionally, without premeditation, may flee there, and they shall become your refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴Then he shall flee to one of these cities, and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and state his case in the presence of the elders of that city; and they shall receive him into the city to them and give him a place, so that he may remain among them.

⁵Now if the avenger of blood pursues him, then they are not to hand the one who committed manslaughter over to him, since he struck his neighbor without premeditation and did not hate him previously.

⁶And he shall remain in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then he shall return to his own city and to his own house, to the city from which he fled.’ ”

⁷So they set apart 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.

⁸And beyond 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 designated cities for all the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them, so that whoever kills a person unintentionally may flee there, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood until he stands before the congregation.

¹Then the heads of fathers’ households of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of fathers’ households of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

²And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “The LORD commanded through 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 cities with their pasture lands, in accordance with the command of the LORD.

⁴Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. And to the sons of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, thirteen cities were given by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of the Simeonites, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

⁵And to the rest of the sons of Kohath ten cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶And to the sons of Gershon thirteen cities were given by lot from the families of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷To the sons of Merari according to their families twelve cities were given from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun.

⁸Now the 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 was theirs first.

¹¹So they gave them 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 gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

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

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

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

¹⁶Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands; nine cities from these two tribes.

¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, 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, that is, to the rest of the sons of Kohath.

²¹They gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who commits 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.

²³And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke 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 were ten.

²⁷And to the sons of Gershon, one of the families of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, and Be-eshterah with its pasture lands; two cities.

²⁸And from 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.

³²And from the tribe of Naphtali, they gave Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, 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.

³⁴And to the families of the sons of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasture lands, 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, Jahaz with its pasture lands,

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

³⁸And from the tribe of Gad, they gave Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who commits manslaughter, with its pasture lands, 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 possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their pasture lands.

⁴²These cities individually had their surrounding pasture lands; this is how it was with all these cities.

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

⁴⁴And the LORD gave them rest on every side, in accordance with everything that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all their enemies stood before them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them.

⁴⁵Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; everything came to pass.