Joshua 21
Not One Word Failed of All He Promised
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The Levites Ask for Their Cities
21:1The ancestral heads of the sons of Levi approached Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the tribal heads of the ancestral houses from the tribes of Israel,
21:2and said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that cities be given us to live in, with surrounding lands for our livestock.”
21:3The sons of Israel gave the Levites, when assigning the inheritance by the Lord’s command, the cities and their surrounding lands.
21:4The lot came out for the division of Kohath, and the sons of Aaron, the priests, the Levites, received by lot thirteen cities from the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Simeon, and the tribe of Benjamin;
21:5the remaining sons of Kohath received by lot ten cities from the tribe of Ephraim, the tribe of Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
21:6The sons of Gershon received thirteen cities from the tribe of Issachar, the tribe of Asher, the tribe of Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.
21:7The sons of Merari, according to their divisions, received by lot twelve cities from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun.
21:8The sons of Israel gave the Levites the cities and their surrounding lands by lot, as the Lord had commanded Moses.
The Cities of the Sons of Aaron
21:9The tribe of the sons of Judah and the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and some from the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, gave the cities, and they were assigned
21:10to the sons of Aaron from the division of Kohath among the sons of Levi, because the lot belonged to them.
21:11He gave them Kiriath-arbok, the mother-city of the Anakim—that is Hebron—in the mountain of Judah. But the surrounding lands around it,
21:12and the fields of the city and its villages, Joshua gave as a possession to the sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh.
21:13To the sons of Aaron he gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the one who killed, with its allotted lands, and Libnah with its allotted lands,
21:14Ailom with its allotted lands, and Tema with its allotted lands,
21:15Gella with its allotted lands, and Debir with its allotted lands,
21:16Asa with its allotted lands, Tany with its allotted lands, and Bethsamys with its allotted lands: nine cities from these two tribes.
21:17From the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon with its allotted lands, and Gathet with its allotted lands,
21:18Anathoth with its allotted lands, and Gamala with its allotted lands: four cities.
21:19All the cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen.
The Cities of the Remaining Kohathites
21:20For the divisions of the sons of Kohath, the Levites remaining from the sons of Kohath, a city of their territory came from the tribe of Ephraim,
21:21and they gave them Shechem, the city of refuge for the one who killed, with its allotted lands, and Gazara with what belonged to it and its allotted lands,
21:22Kabsaïm with its allotted lands, and Upper Beth-horon with its allotted lands: four cities.
21:23From the tribe of Dan: Elkothaim with its allotted lands, and Gethedan with its allotted lands,
21:24Aijalon with its allotted lands, and Gath-rimmon with its allotted lands: four cities.
21:25From the half-tribe of Manasseh: Taanach with its allotted lands, and Jebatha with its allotted lands: two cities.
21:26All the cities were ten, with their allotted lands, for the divisions of the remaining sons of Kohath.
The Cities of Gershon
21:27To the sons of Gershon, the Levites, from the half-tribe of Manasseh: the cities set apart for those who killed, Gaulon in Bashan with its allotted lands, and Bosora with its allotted lands: two cities.
21:28From the tribe of Issachar: Kison with its allotted lands, and Debba with its allotted lands,
21:29Remmath with its allotted lands, and Spring of Letters with its allotted lands: four cities.
21:30From the tribe of Asher: Basellan with its allotted lands, and Dabbon with its allotted lands,
21:31Helkath with its allotted lands, and Rehob with its allotted lands: four cities.
21:32From the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee, the city set apart for the one who killed, with its allotted lands, Emmath with its allotted lands, and Themmon with its allotted lands: three cities.
21:33All the cities of Gershon according to their divisions were thirteen cities.
The Cities of Merari
21:34To the division of the sons of Merari, the remaining Levites, from the tribe of the sons of Zebulun: Maan with its surrounding lands, and Kedesh with its surrounding lands,
21:35Dimnah with its surrounding lands, and Sella with its surrounding lands: four cities.
21:36Beyond the Jordan opposite Jericho, from the tribe of Reuben: Bosor, the city of refuge for the one who killed, in the wilderness of Misor, with its surrounding lands, and Jazer with its surrounding lands,
21:37Dekmon with its surrounding lands, and Mapha with its surrounding lands: four cities.
21:38From the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead, the city of refuge for the one who killed, with its surrounding lands, and Kamin with its surrounding lands,
21:39Heshbon with its surrounding lands, and Jazer with its surrounding lands: four cities in all.
21:40All the cities for the sons of Merari according to their divisions, those remaining from the tribe of Levi—their territory was twelve cities.
Forty-Eight Cities in All
21:41All the cities of the Levites amid the possession of the sons of Israel were forty-eight cities with their surrounding lands
21:42around these cities—each city with its surrounding lands around the city; so for all these cities.
21:42aJoshua finished dividing the land within their borders.
21:42bThe sons of Israel gave Joshua a portion according to the Lord’s command. They gave him the city he requested; they gave him Thamnasarach in the mountain of Ephraim.
21:42cJoshua built the city and lived in it.
21:42dJoshua took the stone knives with which he circumcised the sons of Israel born on the journey in the wilderness, and he placed them in Thamnasarach.
Every Good Word Fulfilled
21:43The Lord gave Israel all the land that He had sworn to give their fathers. They inherited it and lived in it.
21:44The Lord gave them rest all around, as He had sworn to their fathers. No one from all their enemies rose before them; the Lord handed all their enemies into their hands.
21:45Not one of all the good words that the Lord spoke to the sons of Israel failed; everything came to pass.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.