Joshua 21

1Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the sons of Israel.

2And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, “Yahweh commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.”

3So the sons of Israel gave to the Levites, from their inheritance, at the command of Yahweh, these cities and their pasturelands.

4Then the lot came out for the families of the Kohathites, and for the sons of Aaron the priest, from among the Levites, there fell by lot thirteen cities from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin.

5And for the remaining sons of Kohath, from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh, there were by lot ten cities.

6And to the sons of Gershon, 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, by lot, thirteen cities.

7For the sons of Merari, according to their families, from the tribe of Reuben and from the tribe of Gad and from the tribe of Zebulun: twelve cities.

8So the sons of Israel gave to the Levites these cities with their pasturelands, as Yahweh had commanded by the hand of Moses, by lot.

9From the tribe of the sons of Judah and from the tribe of the sons of Simeon they gave these cities, which are called by name:

10It was for the sons of Aaron, from the families of the Kohathites, from the sons of Levi, because the first lot was for them.

11So they gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with its pasturelands around it.

12But the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13And to the sons of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, and Libnah with its pasturelands.

14Jattir with its pasturelands, and Eshtemoa with its pasturelands.

15Holon with its pasturelands, and Debir with its pasturelands.

16Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities from these two tribes.

17and from the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its pasturelands, and Geba with its pasturelands;

18Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands: four cities.

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

20And for the families of the sons of Kohath, the Levites who remained from the sons of Kohath, the cities of their lot were from the tribe of Ephraim.

21They gave them Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Gezer with its pasturelands.

22and Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities.

23And from the tribe of Dan: Eltekeh with its pasturelands, and Gibbethon with its pasturelands.

24Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands: four cities.

25And from the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities.

26All the cities were ten, with their pasturelands, for the clans of the remaining sons of Kohath.

27And to the sons of Gershon, from the clans of the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh, they gave Golan in Bashan, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities.

28And from the tribe of Issachar: Kishion with its pasturelands, and Dabrath with its pasturelands.

29Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities.

30and from the tribe of Asher: Mishal with its pasturelands, and Abdon with its pasturelands.

31Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities.

32And from the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands; Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands; and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities.

33All the cities of the Gershonites by their families were thirteen cities, with their pasturelands.

34And to the families of the sons of Merari, the remaining Levites, from the tribe of Zebulun: Jokneam with its pasturelands, and Kartah with its pasturelands.

35Dimnah with its pasturelands, and Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities.

36And from the tribe of Reuben: Bezer with its pasturelands, and Jahaz with its pasturelands.

37Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands: four cities.

38And from the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, and Mahanaim with its pasturelands.

39Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all.

40All the cities for the sons of Merari, by their families—the remaining ones from the families of the Levites—were twelve cities by lot.

41All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities, with their pasturelands.

42Each of these cities had its surrounding pasturelands; so it was for all these cities.

43So Yahweh gave Israel all the land that he had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and lived in it.

44And Yahweh gave them rest on every side, according to all that he had sworn to their fathers. Not one man from all their enemies stood before them; Yahweh gave all their enemies into their hand.

45Not one word failed from all the good word that Yahweh had spoken to the house of Israel; all of it came to pass.