Joshua 21 - International Standard Version (ISV)

Reservation of the Levitical Cities

21 Then the family leaders of the descendants of Levi approached Eleazar the priest and Nun’s son Joshua, along with the family leaders of the people of Israel. ² It was at Shiloh in the land of Canaan that they told them, “The Lord ordered through Moses that we be given cities in which to live, along with their pasture lands for our livestock.”

Allocation for the Descendants of Kohath and Descendants of Gershon

³ So, just as the Lord had said, the Israelis set aside cities for the descendants of Levi from a portion of their own inheritances, along with their grazing lands. ⁴ The lottery went to the families of the descendants of Kohath. So the descendants of Aaron the priest, who were descendants of Levi, received thirteen cities by random lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin. ⁵ The rest of the descendants of Kohath received ten cities by random lot from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶ The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by random lot from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasseh located in Bashan. ⁷ The descendants of Merari, allocated according to their families, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

⁸ The Israelis apportioned these cities, along with their pasture lands, to the descendants of Levi by random lot, just as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹ From the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon, they gave these cities, delineated by name: ¹⁰ for the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the descendants of Kohath, of the descendants of Levi, since the lot fell in their favor first. ¹¹ They gave them Kiriath-arba, also known as Hebron, (Arba was named after^[a] the ancestor of Anak), in the hill country of Judah, along with its surrounding pasture lands. ¹² But the fields adjoining the city and its surrounding villages were given to Jephunneh’s son Caleb.

¹³ So they gave Hebron to the descendants of Aaron the priest to serve as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, ¹⁴ Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands, ¹⁵ Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶ Ain with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands, for a total of nine cities from these two tribes.

¹⁷ From the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸ Anathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities. ¹⁹ All of the cities allocated^[b] to the priests, who were descendants of Aaron, numbered thirteen, along with their pasture lands.

²⁰ Cities from the tribe of Ephraim were also allotted to the families of the descendants of Kohath, that is, to the rest of the descendants of Kohath, who were descendants of Levi. ²¹ Shechem was allocated to them as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, in the mountainous region^[c] of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, ²² Kibzaim with its pasture lands, and Beth-horon with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

²³ From the tribe of Dan were allocated^[d] Elteke with its pasture lands, Gibbethon with its pasture lands, ²⁴ Aijalon with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

²⁵ From the half-tribe of Manasseh were allocated Taanach with its pasture lands and Gath-rimmon with its pasture lands, for a total of two cities. ²⁶ All the cities with their pasture lands for the families of the rest of the descendants of Kohath numbered ten.

²⁷ To the descendants of Gershon (one of the Levitical families) from the half-tribe of Manasseh were allocated^[e] Golan in Bashan as a city of refuge for unintentional killers, along with its pasture lands, and Beeshterah with its pasture lands, for a total of two cities.

²⁸ From the tribe of Issachar were allocated^[f] Kishion with its pasture lands, Daberath with its pasture lands, ²⁹ Jarmuth with its pasture lands, and En-gannim with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

³⁰ From the tribe of Asher were allocated^[g] Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹ Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

³² From the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands were allocated^[h] as a city of refuge for the unintentional killer, Hammoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands, for a total of three cities.

³³ All the cities of the descendants of Gershon according to their families totaled thirteen, including their pasture lands.

Allocation for the Descendants of Merari

³⁴ From the tribe of Zebulun were allocated^[i] to the descendants of Merari (that is, the rest of the descendants of Levi) Jokneam with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, ³⁵ Dimnah with its pasture lands, and Nahalal with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

^{36 [j]}From the tribe of Reuben were allocated^[k] Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, ³⁷ Kedemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephaath with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities.

³⁸ From the tribe of Gad were allocated^[l] Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, to serve as a city of refuge for the unintentional killer, Mahanaim with its pasture lands, ³⁹ Heshbon with its pasture lands, and Jazer with its pasture lands, for a total of four cities in all.

⁴⁰ So the entire allocation to the descendants of Merari (that is, the rest of the families of the descendants of Levi) according to their families totaled twelve cities.

Summary of Allocations to the Descendants of Levi

⁴¹ All of the cities of the descendants of Levi that had been set apart^[m] among the territorial^[n] possession of the Israelis totaled 48, along with their pasture lands. ⁴² These cities were each surrounded by pasture lands, as was the case with all of these cities. ⁴³ So the Lord gave all of the land to Israel that he had promised to give their ancestors, and they took possession and settled there in it. ⁴⁴ The Lord gave them peace^[o] all around them, just as he had promised their ancestors. Not one of their enemies was able to oppose them—the Lord placed all of their enemies under their control. ⁴⁵ Not one of the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed—all of them came about.^[p]

Footnotes

1. Joshua 21:11 The Heb. lacks was named after
2. Joshua 21:19 The Heb. lacks allocated
3. Joshua 21:21 Or the hill country
4. Joshua 21:23 The Heb. lacks were allocated
5. Joshua 21:27 The Heb. lacks were allocated
6. Joshua 21:28 The Heb. lacks were allocated
7. Joshua 21:30 The Heb. lacks were allocated
8. Joshua 21:32 The Heb. lacks were allocated
9. Joshua 21:34 The Heb. lacks were allocated
10. Joshua 21:36 vv. 36-37 are usu. included in MT as a quotation from 1Chr 6:63-64
11. Joshua 21:36 The Heb. lacks were allocated
12. Joshua 21:38 The Heb. lacks were allocated
13. Joshua 21:41 The Heb. lacks that had been set apart
14. Joshua 21:41 The Heb. lacks territorial
15. Joshua 21:44 Lit. rest
16. Joshua 21:45 The Heb. lacks came about