Joshua 21 - English Standard Version (ESV)

Cities and Pasturelands Allotted to Levi

21 Then the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites came ^(A)to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel. ² And they said to them ^(B)at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, ^(C)“The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasturelands for our livestock.” ³ So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasturelands out of their inheritance.

⁴ The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest ^(D)received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

⁵ And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot ^(E)from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

⁶ The ^(F)Gershonites received by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

⁷ The ^(G)Merarites according to their clans received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

⁸ These cities and their pasturelands the people of Israel ^(H)gave by lot to the Levites, ^(I)as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ Out of the tribe of the people of Judah and the tribe of the people of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, ¹⁰ which went to ^(J)the descendants of Aaron, one of the clans of the Kohathites who belonged to the people of Levi; since the lot fell to them first. ^{11 (K)}They gave them ^(L)Kiriath-arba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, ^(M)in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasturelands around it. ¹² But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh as his possession.

¹³ And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, ^(N)the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands, ^(O)Libnah with its pasturelands, ¹⁴ Jattir with its pasturelands, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, ¹⁵ Holon with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, ¹⁶ Ain with its pasturelands, Juttah with its pasturelands, Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands—nine cities out of these two tribes; ¹⁷ then out of the tribe of Benjamin, ^(P)Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelands—four cities. ¹⁹ The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

^{20 (Q)}As to the rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹ To them were given Shechem, ^(R)the city of refuge for the manslayer, with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, ²² Kibzaim with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands—four cities; ²³ and out of the tribe of Dan, Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—four cities; ²⁵ and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands—two cities. ²⁶ The cities of the clans of the rest of the Kohathites were ten in all with their pasturelands.

^{27 (S)}And to the Gershonites, one of the clans of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands, ^(T)the city of refuge for the manslayer, and Beeshterah with its pasturelands—two cities; ²⁸ and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasturelands, En-gannim with its pasturelands—four cities; ³⁰ and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands—four cities; ³² and out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, ^(U)the city of refuge for the manslayer, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelands—three cities. ³³ The cities of the several clans of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasturelands.

^{34 (V)}And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarite clans, were given out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelands—four cities; ³⁶ and out of the tribe of Reuben, ^(W)Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahaz with its pasturelands, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands—four cities; ³⁸ and out of the tribe of Gad, ^(X)Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, the city of refuge for the manslayer, ^(Y)Mahanaim with its pasturelands, ^{39 (Z)}Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelands—four cities in all. ⁴⁰ As for the cities of the several Merarite clans, that is, the remainder of the clans of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.

^{41 (AA)}The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasturelands. ⁴² These cities each had its pasturelands around it. So it was with all these cities.

^{43 (AB)}Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers. And they took possession of it, and they settled there. ^{44 (AC)}And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers. ^(AD)Not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for ^(AE)the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. ^{45 (AF)}Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.

Cross references

1. Joshua 21:1 : ch. 14:1; 17:4; 19:51; Num. 34:17, 18
2. Joshua 21:2 : See ch. 18:1
3. Joshua 21:2 : Num. 35:2
4. Joshua 21:4 : See ver. 9-19; Ex. 6:16-19; Num. 3:17-20
5. Joshua 21:5 : See ver. 20-26
6. Joshua 21:6 : See ver. 27-33
7. Joshua 21:7 : See ver. 34-40
8. Joshua 21:8 : ver. 3
9. Joshua 21:8 : Num. 35:2; See ch. 14:3-5
10. Joshua 21:10 : ver. 4
11. Joshua 21:11 : For ver. 11-19, see 1 Chr. 6:54-60
12. Joshua 21:11 : See ch. 14:13-15
13. Joshua 21:11 : ch. 20:7; Luke 1:39
14. Joshua 21:13 : ch. 20:7
15. Joshua 21:13 : ch. 10:29
16. Joshua 21:17 : ch. 9:3
17. Joshua 21:20 : For ver. 20-26, see 1 Chr. 6:66-70
18. Joshua 21:21 : ch. 20:7, 8
19. Joshua 21:27 : For ver. 27-33, see 1 Chr. 6:71-76
20. Joshua 21:27 : [See ver. 21 above]; ch. 20:7, 8
21. Joshua 21:32 : [See ver. 21 above]; ch. 20:7, 8
22. Joshua 21:34 : For ver. 34-40, see 1 Chr. 6:77-81
23. Joshua 21:36 : ch. 20:8
24. Joshua 21:38 : [See ver. 36 above]; ch. 20:8
25. Joshua 21:38 : See ch. 13:26
26. Joshua 21:39 : [See ver. 38 above]; See ch. 13:26
27. Joshua 21:41 : Num. 35:7
28. Joshua 21:43 : Gen. 13:15; 15:18; 26:3; 28:4, 13
29. Joshua 21:44 : See ch. 11:23
30. Joshua 21:44 : ch. 10:8; 23:9
31. Joshua 21:44 : ch. 2:24; Deut. 7:24
32. Joshua 21:45 : ch. 23:14, 15