The Last of the Land Is Divided
18 The entire congregation of the Israelites[a] assembled at Shiloh, and they set up there the tent of meeting, and the land was subdued before them.[b] 2 And seven tribes remained among the Israelites[c] who had not been apportioned their inheritance. 3 And Joshua said to the Israelites,[d] “How long[e] will you be slack about going to take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[f] has given you? 4 Provide three men from each tribe,[g] and I will send them so that they may begin to go through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance,[h] and let them come to me. 5 They will divide it among themselves into seven portions; Judah will maintain its border[i] from the south, and the house of Joseph will maintain its border[j] from the north. 6 Describe the land in seven divisions, and bring it to me here; I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. 7 The Levites among you have no portion, for their inheritance is the priesthood of Yahweh; Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to them.”
8 And the men went immediately,[k] and Joshua commanded the ones going to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk about through the land, write a description, and return to me, and here I will cast a lot for you before[l] Yahweh at Shiloh.” 9 And the men went and passed through the land, and they described[m] the cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua cast a lot for them at Shiloh before[n] Yahweh, and there he divided the land for the Israelites,[o] to each a portion.[p]
The Allotment of Benjamin
11 And the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the border of their allotment fell[q] between the descendants[r] of Judah and the descendants[s] of Joseph. 12 Their northern border began at the Jordan and went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and continued into the hill country to the west; it ends[t] at the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border passes on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel); then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar to the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-Horon. 14 Then the border changes direction and turns to the western side southward, from the mountain that is opposite[u] Beth-Horon to the south. It ends[v] at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town belonging to the descendants[w] of Judah. This is the western side. 15 The southern side begins on the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim, and the border continues to the west to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah; 16 the border goes down to the foot[x] of the mountain, which is opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom,[y] which is in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites[z] to the south, and then it goes down to En Rogel. 17 It changes direction from the north, and it continues to En Shemesh; it goes out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. 18 It passes on to the slope opposite the Arabah[aa] to the north, and it goes down to the Arabah.[ab] 19 The border passes on to the slope of Beth-hoglah to the north and ends[ac] at the north bay of the Salt Sea[ad] at the south end of the Jordan. This is the southern border. 20 The Jordan forms its border on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, its borders that surrounds them, according to their families.
21 Now the towns of the tribes of the descendants[ae] of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities and their villages.
25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants[af] of Benjamin according to their families.
Footnotes
- Joshua 18:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 18:1 Or “in their presence”
- Joshua 18:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 18:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 18:3 Literally “Until when”
- Joshua 18:3 Or “fathers”
- Joshua 18:4 Literally “according to each tribe”
- Joshua 18:4 Literally “according to the mouth of their inheritance”
- Joshua 18:5 Literally “Judah will stand on its border”
- Joshua 18:5 Literally “the house of Joseph will stand on its border”
- Joshua 18:8 Literally “the men got up and went”
- Joshua 18:8 Or “in the presence of”
- Joshua 18:9 Literally “wrote it”
- Joshua 18:10 Or “in the presence of”
- Joshua 18:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
- Joshua 18:10 Literally “according to their allotment”
- Joshua 18:11 Literally “went out”
- Joshua 18:11 Or “sons”
- Joshua 18:11 Or “sons”
- Joshua 18:12 Literally “the goings out of it were”
- Joshua 18:14 Literally “against the face of”
- Joshua 18:14 Literally “the goings out of it were”
- Joshua 18:14 Or “sons”
- Joshua 18:16 Or “to the edge”
- Joshua 18:16 Or “valley of the son of-Hinnom”
- Joshua 18:16 Hebrew “Jebusite”
- Joshua 18:18 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan Valley
- Joshua 18:18 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan Valley
- Joshua 18:19 Literally “the goings out of it were”
- Joshua 18:19 That is, the Dead Sea
- Joshua 18:21 Or “sons”
- Joshua 18:28 Or “sons”