Joshua 21

¹Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Eleaʹzar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel; ²and they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, “The Lord commanded through Moses that we be given cities to dwell in, along with their pasture lands for our cattle.” ³So by command of the Lord the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasture lands out of their inheritance.

⁴The lot came out for the families of the Koʹhathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin, thirteen cities.

⁵And the rest of the Koʹhathites received by lot from the families of the tribe of Eʹphraim, from the tribe of Dan and the half-tribe of Manasʹseh, ten cities.

⁶The Gershonites received by lot from the families of the tribe of Isʹsachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphʹtali, and from the half-tribe of Manasʹseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

⁷The Merarʹites according to their families received from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebʹulun, twelve cities.

⁸These cities and their pasture lands the people of Israel gave by lot to the Levites, as the Lord had commanded through Moses.

⁹Out of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Simeon they gave the following cities mentioned by name, ¹⁰which went to the descendants of Aaron, one of the families of the Koʹhathites who belonged to the Levites; since the lot fell to them first. ¹¹They gave them Kirʹiath-arʹba (Arba being the father of Anak), that is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, along with the pasture lands round about it. ¹²But the fields of the city and its villages had been given to Caleb the son of Jephunʹneh as his possession.

¹³And to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands, Libnah with its pasture lands, ¹⁴Jattir with its pasture lands, Eshtemoʹa with its pasture lands, ¹⁵Holon with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands, ¹⁶Aʹin with its pasture lands, Juttah with its pasture lands, Beth-sheʹmesh with its pasture lands—nine cities out of these two tribes; ¹⁷then out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon with its pasture lands, Geba with its pasture lands, ¹⁸Anʹathoth with its pasture lands, and Almon with its pasture lands—four cities. ¹⁹The cities of the descendants of Aaron, the priests, were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

²⁰As to the rest of the Koʹhathites belonging to the Koʹhathite families of the Levites, the cities allotted to them were out of the tribe of Eʹphraim. ²¹To them were given Shechem, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasture lands in the hill country of Eʹphraim, Gezer with its pasture lands, ²²Kibʹza-im with its pasture lands, Beth-horʹon with its pasture lands—four cities; ²³and out of the tribe of Dan, Elʹteke with its pasture lands, Gibʹbethon with its pasture lands, ²⁴Aiʹjalon with its pasture lands, Gath-rimʹmon with its pasture lands—four cities; ²⁵and out of the half-tribe of Manasʹseh, Taʹanach with its pasture lands, and Gath-rimʹmon with its pasture lands—two cities. ²⁶The cities of the families of the rest of the Koʹhathites were ten in all with their pasture lands.

²⁷And to the Gershonites, one of the families of the Levites, were given out of the half-tribe of Manasʹseh, Golan in Bashan with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, and Be-eshʹterah with its pasture lands—two cities; ²⁸and out of the tribe of Isʹsachar, Kiʹshion with its pasture lands, Dabʹerath with its pasture lands, ²⁹Jarmuth with its pasture lands, En-ganʹnim with its pasture lands—four cities; ³⁰and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal with its pasture lands, Abdon with its pasture lands, ³¹Helkath with its pasture lands, and Rehob with its pasture lands—four cities; ³²and out of the tribe of Naphʹtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Hamʹmoth-dor with its pasture lands, and Kartan with its pasture lands—three cities. ³³The cities of the several families of the Gershonites were in all thirteen cities with their pasture lands.

³⁴And to the rest of the Levites, the Merarʹite families, were given out of the tribe of Zebʹulun, Jokʹne-am with its pasture lands, Kartah with its pasture lands, ³⁵Dimnah with its pasture lands, Naʹhalal with its pasture lands—four cities; ³⁶and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer with its pasture lands, Jahaz with its pasture lands, ³⁷Kedʹemoth with its pasture lands, and Mephʹa-ath with its pasture lands—four cities; ³⁸and out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its pasture lands, the city of refuge for the slayer, Mahanaʹim with its pasture lands, ³⁹Heshbon with its pasture lands, Jazer with its pasture lands—four cities in all. ⁴⁰As for the cities of the several Merarʹite families, that is, the remainder of the families of the Levites, those allotted to them were in all twelve cities.

⁴¹The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the people of Israel were in all forty-eight cities with their pasture lands. ⁴²These cities had each its pasture lands round about it; so it was with all these cities.

⁴³Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give to their fathers; and having taken possession of it, they settled there. ⁴⁴And the Lord gave them rest on every side just as he had sworn to their fathers; not one of all their enemies had withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. ⁴⁵Not one of all the good promises which the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.