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The Book of Joshua

Joshua Chapter 21

  

Cities of the Levites

1
THE

family heads of the Levites approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the heads of the families of the Israelite tribes.  2  They spoke to him at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said to them, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to live in, with their pasturelands for our livestock.”  3  So, as the Lord had commanded, the Israelites gave the Levites gave these cities and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance.

4 The first lot came out for the Kohathite clans. The Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received thirteen cities by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.  5  The remaining descendants of Kohath received ten cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 The descendants of Gershon received thirteen cities by lot from the clans of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

7 The descendants of Merari, by their clans, received twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.

8 The Israelites gave these cities with their pasturelands by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

Cities of Aaron’s Descendants

9 From the tribes of the descendants of Judah and Simeon they allotted these cities by name,  10  to the descendants of Aaron from the Kohathite clans of the Levites, because the first lot fell to them.

11  They gave them Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron), with its surrounding pasturelands, in the hill country of Judah. (Arba was the forefather of Anak.)  12  But the fields of the city and its villages they had given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his possession.

13  So to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its pasturelands (a city of refuge for the manslayer), 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, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelandsnine cities from these two tribes.

17  From the tribe of Benjamin they gave them Gibeon with its pasturelands, Geba with its pasturelands,  18  Anathoth with its pasturelands, and Almon with its pasturelandsfour cities.

19  In total, the cities of the descendants of Aaron the priest were thirteen, together with their pasturelands.

Cities of the Other Kohathites

20  The remainder of the Kohathite clans of the Levites were allotted cities from the tribe of Ephraim.

21  They were given Shechem (a city of refuge for the manslayer), with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands,  22  Kibzaim with its pasturelands, and Beth-horon with its pasturelandsfour cities.

23  Also from the tribe of Dan they received Elteke with its pasturelands, Gibbethon with its pasturelands,  24  Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelandsfour cities.

25  From the half-tribe of Manasseh they received Taanach with its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon with its pasturelandstwo cities.

26  All these ten cities with their pasturelands were for the remainder of the clans of the descendants of Kohath.

Cities of the Gershonites

27  The Gershonite clan of the Levites were given:
  from the half-tribe of Manasseh,

Golan in Bashan (a city of refuge for the manslayer), with its pasturelands, and Beeshterah with its pasturelandstwo cities.

28  From the tribe of Issachar they gave Kishion with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands,  29  Jarmuth with its pasturelands, and En-gannim with its pasturelandsfour cities.

30  From the tribe of Asher they gave Mishal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands,  31  Helkath with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelandsfour cities.

32  From the tribe of Naphtali they gave Kedesh in Galilee (a city of refuge for the manslayer), with its pasturelands, Hammoth-dor with its pasturelands, and Kartan with its pasturelandsthree cities.

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

Cities of the Merarites

34  The clans of the descendants of Merari, (who were the remainder of the Levites) were given from the tribe of Zebulun:

Jokneam with its pasturelands, Kartah with its pasturelands,  35  Dimnah with its pasturelands, Nahalal with its pasturelandsfour cities.

36 From the tribe of Reuben they gave:

Bezer with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands,  37  Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelandsfour cities.

38  From the tribe of Gad they gave:

Ramoth in Gilead (a city of refuge for the manslayer), with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands,  39  Heshbon with its pasturelands, Jazer with its pasturelandsfour cities in all.

40  All the cities allotted to the Merarite clans, the remainder of the Levites clans, were twelve.

41  The cities of the Levites within the territory of the Israelites were forty-eight cities with their pasturelands.  42  Each of these cities had its pasturelands surrounding it; this was true for all the cities.

God’s Promises to the Levites Fulfilled

43  So the Lord gave Israel all the land that He had sworn to give their forefathers, and they took possession of it and settled there.  44  The Lord gave them rest on every side, just as He had sworn to their forefathers. Not a man of all their enemies stood against them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands.  45  Not one of the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel failed. Every promise was fulfilled.