Joshua 16-20

Joshua 16

¹And the lot for the children of Joseph went out from the Jordan at Jericho, at the waters of Jericho on the east, even the wilderness, going up from Jericho through the hill country to Beth-el;

²and it went out from Beth-el to Luz, and passed along unto the border of the Archites to Ataroth;

³and it went down westward to the border of the Japhletites, unto the border of Beth-horon the nether, even unto Gezer: and the goings out thereof were at the sea.

⁴And the children of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, took their inheritance.

⁵And the border of the children of Ephraim according to their families was thus: even the border of their inheritance eastward was Ataroth-addar, unto Beth-horon the upper;

⁶and the border went out westward at Michmethath on the north; and the border turned about eastward unto Taanath-shiloh, and passed along it on the east of Janoah;

⁷and it went down from Janoah to Ataroth, and to Naarah, and reached unto Jericho, and went out at Jordan.

⁸From Tappuah the border went along westward to the brook of Kanah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Ephraim according to their families;

⁹together with the cities which were separated for the children of Ephraim in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Manasseh, all the cities with their villages.

¹⁰And they drave not out the Canaanites that dwelt in Gezer: but the Canaanites dwelt in the midst of Ephraim, unto this day, and became servants to do taskwork.

Joshua 17

¹And this was the lot for the tribe of Manasseh; for he was the firstborn of Joseph. As for Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, because he was a man of war, therefore he had Gilead and Bashan.

²And the lot was for the rest of the children of Manasseh according to their families; for the children of Abiezer, and for the children of Helek, and for the children of Asriel, and for the children of Shechem, and for the children of Hepher, and for the children of Shemida: these were the male children of Manasseh the son of Joseph according to their families.

³But Zelophehad, the son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, but daughters: and these are the names of his daughters, Mahlah, and Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

⁴And they came near before Eleazar the priest, and before Joshua the son of Nun, and before the princes, saying, The LORD commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our brethren: therefore according to the commandment of the LORD he gave them an inheritance among the brethren of their father.

⁵And there fell ten parts to Manasseh, beside the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is beyond Jordan;

⁶because the daughters of Manasseh had an inheritance among his sons: and the land of Gilead belonged unto the rest of the sons of Manasseh.

⁷And the border of Manasseh was from Asher to Michmethath, which is before Shechem; and the border went along to the right hand, unto the inhabitants of En-tappuah.

⁸The land of Tappuah belonged to Manasseh: but Tappuah on the border of Manasseh belonged to the children of Ephraim.

⁹And the border went down unto the brook of Kanah, southward of the brook: these cities belonged to Ephraim among the cities of Manasseh: and the border of Manasseh was on the north side of the brook, and the goings out thereof were at the sea:

¹⁰southward it was Ephraim’s, and northward it was Manasseh’s, and the sea was his border; and they reached to Asher on the north, and to Issachar on the east.

¹¹And Manasseh had in Issachar and in Asher Beth-shean and her towns, and Ibleam and her towns, and the inhabitants of Dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of En-dor and her towns, and the inhabitants of Taanach and her towns, and the inhabitants of Megiddo and her towns, even the three heights.

¹²Yet the children of Manasseh could not drive out the inhabitants of those cities; but the Canaanites would dwell in that land.

¹³And it came to pass, when the children of Israel were waxen strong, that they put the Canaanites to taskwork, and did not utterly drive them out.

¹⁴And the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me but one lot and one part for an inheritance, seeing I am a great people, forasmuch as hitherto the LORD hath blessed me?

¹⁵And Joshua said unto them, If thou be a great people, get thee up to the forest, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the Rephaim; since the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for thee.

¹⁶And the children of Joseph said, The hill country is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are in Beth-shean and her towns, and they who are in the valley of Jezreel.

¹⁷And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:

¹⁸but the hill country shall be thine; for though it is a forest, thou shalt cut it down, and the goings out thereof shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have chariots of iron, and though they be strong.

Joshua 18

¹And the whole congregation of the children of Israel assembled themselves together at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there: and the land was subdued before them.

²And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet divided their inheritance.

³And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go in to possess the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, hath given you?

⁴Appoint for you three men for each tribe: and I will send them, and they shall arise, and walk through the land, and describe it according to their inheritance; and they shall come unto me.

⁵And they shall divide it into seven portions: Judah shall abide in his border on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their border on the north.

⁶And ye shall describe the land into seven portions, and bring the description hither to me: and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

⁷For the Levites have no portion among you; for the priesthood of the LORD is their inheritance: and Gad and Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.

⁸And the men arose, and went: and Joshua charged them that went to describe the land, saying, Go and walk through the land, and describe it, and come again to me, and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh.

⁹And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven portions in a book, and they came to Joshua unto the camp at Shiloh.

¹⁰And Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD: and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions.

¹¹And the lot of the tribe of the children of Benjamin came up according to their families: and the border of their lot went out between the children of Judah and the children of Joseph.

¹²And their border on the north quarter was from Jordan; and the border went up to the side of Jericho on the north, and went up through the hill country westward; and the goings out thereof were at the wilderness of Beth-aven.

¹³And the border passed along from thence to Luz, to the side of Luz (the same is Beth-el), southward; and the border went down to Ataroth-addar, by the mountain that lieth on the south of Beth-horon the nether.

¹⁴And the border was drawn and turned about on the west quarter southward, from the mountain that lieth before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal (the same is Kiriath-jearim), a city of the children of Judah: this was the west quarter.

¹⁵And the south quarter was from the uttermost part of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out westward, and went out to the fountain of the waters of Nephtoah:

¹⁶and the border went down to the uttermost part of the mountain that lieth before the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is in the vale of Rephaim northward; and it went down to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of the Jebusite southward, and went down to En-rogel;

¹⁷and it was drawn on the north, and went out at En-shemesh, and went out to Geliloth, which is over against the ascent of Adummim; and it went down to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben;

¹⁸and it passed along to the side over against the Arabah northward, and went down unto the Arabah:

¹⁹and the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward: and the goings out of the border were at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of Jordan: this was the south border.

²⁰And Jordan was the border of it on the east quarter. This was the inheritance of the children of Benjamin, by the borders thereof round about, according to their families.

²¹Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and Emek-keziz;

²²and Beth-arabah, and Zemaraim, and Beth-el;

²³and Avvim, and Parah, and Ophrah;

²⁴and Chephar-ammoni, and Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities with their villages:

²⁵Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth;

²⁶and Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah;

²⁷and Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah;

²⁸and Zelah, Eleph, and the Jebusite (the same is Jerusalem), Gibeath, and Kiriath; fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Joshua 19

¹And the second lot came out for Simeon, even for the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families: and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the children of Judah.

²And they had for their inheritance Beer-sheba, or Sheba, and Moladah;

³and Hazar-shual, and Balah, and Ezem;

⁴and Eltolad, and Bethul, and Hormah;

⁵and Ziklag, and Beth-marcaboth, and Hazar-susah;

⁶and Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen; thirteen cities with their villages:

⁷Ain, Rimmon, and Ether, and Ashan; four cities with their villages:

⁸and all the villages that were round about these cities to Baalath-beer, Ramah of the South. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Simeon according to their families.

⁹Out of the part of the children of Judah was the inheritance of the children of Simeon: for the portion of the children of Judah was too much for them: therefore the children of Simeon had inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

¹⁰And the third lot came up for the children of Zebulun according to their families: and the border of their inheritance was unto Sarid:

¹¹and their border went up westward, even to Maralah, and reached to Dabbesheth; and it reached to the brook that is before Jokneam;

¹²and it turned from Sarid eastward toward the sunrising unto the border of Chisloth-tabor; and it went out to Daberath, and went up to Japhia;

¹³and from thence it passed along eastward to Gath-hepher, to Ethkazin; and it went out at Rimmon which stretcheth unto Neah;

¹⁴and the border turned about it on the north to Hannathon: and the goings out thereof were at the valley of Iphtah-el;

¹⁵and Kattath, and Nahalal, and Shimron, and Idalah, and Beth-lehem: twelve cities with their villages.

¹⁶This is the inheritance of the children of Zebulun according to their families, these cities with their villages.

¹⁷The fourth lot came out for Issachar, even for the children of Issachar according to their families.

¹⁸And their border was unto Jezreel, and Chesulloth, and Shunem;

¹⁹and Hapharaim, and Shion, and Anaharath;

²⁰and Rabbith, and Kishion, and Ebez;

²¹and Remeth, and En-gannim, and En-haddah, and Beth-pazzez;

²²and the border reached to Tabor, and Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh; and the goings out of their border were at Jordan: sixteen cities with their villages.

²³This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Issachar according to their families, the cities with their villages.

²⁴And the fifth lot came out for the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families.

²⁵And their border was Helkath, and Hali, and Beten, and Achshaph,

²⁶and Allammelech, and Amad, and Mishal; and it reached to Carmel westward, and to Shihor-libnath;

²⁷and it turned toward the sunrising to Beth-dagon, and reached to Zebulun, and to the valley of Iphtah-el northward to Beth-emek and Neiel; and it went out to Cabul on the left hand,

²⁸and Ebron, and Rehob, and Hammon, and Kanah, even unto great Zidon;

²⁹and the border turned to Ramah, and to the fenced city of Tyre; and the border turned to Hosah; and the goings out thereof were at the sea by the region of Achzib:

³⁰Ummah also, and Aphek, and Rehob: twenty and two cities with their villages.

³¹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Asher according to their families, these cities with their villages.

³²The sixth lot came out for the children of Naphtali, even for the children of Naphtali according to their families.

³³And their border was from Heleph, from the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, unto Lakkum; and the goings out thereof were at Jordan:

³⁴and the border turned westward to Aznoth-tabor, and went out from thence to Hukkok; and it reached to Zebulun on the south, and reached to Asher on the west, and to Judah at Jordan toward the sunrising.

³⁵And the fenced cities were Ziddim, Zer, and Hammath, Rakkath, and Chinnereth;

³⁶and Adamah, and Ramah, and Hazor;

³⁷and Kedesh, and Edrei, and En-hazor;

³⁸And Iron, and Migdal-el, Horem, and Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh; nineteen cities with their villages.

³⁹This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Naphtali according to their families, the cities with their villages.

⁴⁰The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families.

⁴¹And the border of their inheritance was Zorah, and Eshtaol, and Ir-shemesh;

⁴²and Shaalabbin, and Aijalon, and Ithlah;

⁴³and Elon, and Timnah, and Ekron;

⁴⁴and Eltekeh, and Gibbethon, and Baalath;

⁴⁵and Jehud, and Bene-berak, and Gath-rimmon;

⁴⁶and Me-jarkon, and Rakkon, with the border over against Joppa.

⁴⁷And the border of the children of Dan went out beyond them: for the children of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and took it, and smote it with the edge of the sword, and possessed it, and dwelt therein, and called Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their father.

⁴⁸This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Dan according to their families, these cities with their villages.

⁴⁹So they made an end of distributing the land for inheritance by the borders thereof; and the children of Israel gave an inheritance to Joshua me son of Nun in the midst of them:

⁵⁰according to the commandment of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked, even Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim: and he built the city, and dwelt therein.

⁵¹These are the inheritances, which Eleazar the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the children of Israel, distributed for inheritance by lot in Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they made an end of dividing the land.

Joshua 20

¹And the LORD spake unto Joshua, saying,

²Speak to the children of Israel, saying, Assign you the cities of refuge, whereof I spake unto you by the hand of Moses:

³that the manslayer that killeth any person unwittingly and unawares may flee thither: and they shall be unto you for a refuge from the avenger of blood.

⁴And he shall flee unto one of those cities, and shall stand at the entering of the gate of the city, and declare his cause in the ears of the elders of that city; and they shall take him into the city unto them, and give him a place, that he may dwell among them.

⁵And if the avenger of blood pursue after him, then they shall not deliver up the manslayer into his hand; because he smote his neighbour unawares, and hated him not beforetime.

⁶And he shall dwell in that city, until he stand before the congregation for judgment, until the death of the high priest that shall be in those days: then shall the manslayer return, and come unto his own city, and unto his own house, unto the city from whence he fled.

⁷And they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naphtali, and Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, and Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.

⁸And beyond the Jordan at Jericho eastward, they assigned Bezer in the wilderness in the plain out of the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead out of the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan out of the tribe of Manasseh.

⁹These were the appointed cities for all the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them, that whosoever killeth any person unwittingly might flee thither, and not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, until he stood before the congregation.