Joshua 14

The Inheritance West of the Jordan

1 These are the inheritances that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, which ^a Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel gave them to inherit. 2 Their inheritance was ^b by lot, just as the  Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses for the nine and one-half tribes. 3  ^c For Moses had given an inheritance to the two and one-half tribes beyond the Jordan ^d but to the Levites he gave no inheritance among them. 4 For ^e the people of Joseph were two tribes, Manasseh and Ephraim. And no portion was given to the Levites in the land, but only cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands for their livestock and their substance. 5 The people of Israel did ^f as the  Lord commanded Moses; they allotted the land.

Caleb’s Request and Inheritance

6 Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the ^g Kenizzite said to him, “You know ^h what the  Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. 7 I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the  Lord ⁱ sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. 8 But ^j my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the  Lord my God. 9 And Moses swore on that day, saying, ^k ‘Surely the land ^l on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the  Lord my God.’ 10 And now, behold, the  Lord has kept me alive, ^m just as he said, these ⁿ forty-five years since the time that the  Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day ^o eighty-five years old. 11  ^p I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and ^q for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the  Lord spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the ^r Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the  Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the  Lord said.”

13 Then Joshua ^s blessed him, and he gave ^t Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance. 14 Therefore Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite to this day ^u because he wholly followed the  Lord, the God of Israel. 15  ^v Now the name of Hebron formerly was Kiriath-arba. ▼

▼  Kiriath-arba means the city of Arba

(Arba ▼

▼ Hebrew He

was the greatest man among the Anakim.) ^y And the land had rest from war.

Joshua 15

The Allotment for Judah

1 The allotment for the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans reached southward ^z to the boundary of Edom, to ^aa the wilderness of Zin at the farthest south. 2 And their south boundary ran from the end of the ^ab Salt Sea, from the bay that faces southward. 3 It goes out southward of ^ac the ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, and goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, along by Hezron, up to Addar, turns about to Karka, 4 passes along to Azmon, goes out by ^ad the Brook of Egypt, and comes to its end at the sea. This shall be your south boundary. 5 And the east boundary is the ^ae Salt Sea, to the mouth of the Jordan. And the boundary on the north side runs from the bay of the sea at the mouth of the Jordan. 6 And the boundary goes up to ^af Beth-hoglah and passes along north of ^ag Beth-arabah. And the boundary goes up to ^ah the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben. 7 And the boundary goes up to Debir from ^ai the Valley of Achor, and so northward, turning toward Gilgal, which is opposite ^aj the ascent of Adummim, which is on the south side of the valley. And the boundary passes along to the waters of ^ak En-shemesh and ends at ^al En-rogel. 8 Then the boundary goes up by ^am the Valley of the Son of Hinnom at the southern shoulder of the Jebusite ( ^an that is, Jerusalem). And the boundary goes up to the top of the mountain that lies over against the Valley of Hinnom, on the west, at the northern end of the Valley ^ao of Rephaim. 9 Then the boundary extends from the top of the mountain ^ap to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, and from there to the cities of Mount Ephron. Then the boundary bends around to Baalah ( ^aq that is, Kiriath-jearim). 10 And the boundary circles west of Baalah to Mount Seir, passes along to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Chesalon), and goes down to ^ar Beth-shemesh and passes along by ^as Timnah. 11 The boundary goes out ^at to the shoulder of the hill north of Ekron, then the boundary bends around to Shikkeron and passes along to Mount ^au Baalah and goes out to Jabneel. Then the boundary comes to an end at the sea. 12 And the west boundary was ^av the Great Sea with its coastline. This is the boundary around the people of Judah according to their clans.

13 According to the commandment of the  Lord to Joshua, he gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh a portion among the people of Judah, ^aw Kiriath-arba, that is, ^ax Hebron (Arba was the father of Anak). 14 And Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, ^ay Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. 15 And he went up from there against the inhabitants of Debir. ^az Now the name of Debir formerly was Kiriath-sepher. 16 And Caleb said, “Whoever strikes Kiriath-sepher and captures it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter as wife.” 17  ^ba And Othniel the son of Kenaz ^bb the brother of Caleb, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter as wife. 18 When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she got off her donkey, and Caleb said to her, “What do you want?” 19 She said to him, “Give me a blessing. Since you have given me the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water.” And he gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

20 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Judah according to their clans. 21 The cities belonging to the tribe of the people of Judah in the extreme south, toward the boundary of Edom, were Kabzeel, ^bc Eder, Jagur, 22 Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, 23 Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, 24  ^bd Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, 25 Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), 26 Amam, Shema, Moladah, 27 Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, 28 Hazar-shual ^be Beersheba, Biziothiah, 29 Baalah, Iim, Ezem, 30 Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, 31  ^bf Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, 32 Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine cities with their villages.

33 And in the lowland, ^bg Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, 34 Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, 35  ^bh Jarmuth ^bi Adullam ^bj Socoh ^bk Azekah, 36 Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, Gederothaim: fourteen cities with their villages.

37 Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, 38 Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, 39  ^bl Lachish, Bozkath ^bm Eglon, 40 Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish, 41 Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah, and ^bn Makkedah: sixteen cities with their villages.

42  ^bo Libnah, Ether, Ashan, 43 Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, 44  ^bp Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities with their villages.

45  ^bq Ekron, with its towns and its villages; 46 from Ekron to the sea, all that were by the side of Ashdod, with their villages.

47  ^br Ashdod, its towns and its villages; ^bs Gaza, its towns and its villages; to ^bt the Brook of Egypt, and ^bu the Great Sea with its coastline.

48 And in the hill country, Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, 49 Dannah, Kiriath-sannah ( ^bv that is, Debir), 50 Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, 51  ^bw Goshen, Holon, and ^bx Giloh: eleven cities with their villages.

52 Arab, Dumah, Eshan, 53 Janim, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, 54 Humtah ^by Kiriath-arba (that is, ^bz Hebron), and Zior: nine cities with their villages.

55  ^ca Maon ^cb Carmel ^cc Ziph, Juttah, 56 Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, 57 Kain, Gibeah, and ^cd Timnah: ten cities with their villages.

58 Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, 59 Maarath, Beth-anoth, and Eltekon: six cities with their villages.

60  ^ce Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim), and Rabbah: two cities with their villages.

61 In the wilderness, ^cf Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, 62 Nibshan, the City of Salt, and ^cg Engedi: six cities with their villages.

63 But the ^ch Jebusites, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ^ci the people of Judah could not drive out, ^cj so the Jebusites dwell with the people of Judah at Jerusalem to this day.

Joshua 16

The Allotment for Ephraim and Manasseh

1 The allotment of the people of Joseph went from the Jordan by Jericho, east of the waters of Jericho, ^ck into the wilderness, going up from Jericho into the hill country to Bethel. 2 Then ^cl going from Bethel to Luz, it passes along to Ataroth, the territory of the Archites. 3 Then it goes down westward to the territory of the Japhletites, as far as the territory of Lower ^cm Beth-horon, then to ^cn Gezer, and it ends at the sea.

4  ^co The people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, received their inheritance.

5 The territory of the people of Ephraim by their clans was as follows: the boundary of their inheritance on the east was ^cp Ataroth-addar as far as Upper Beth-horon, 6 and the boundary goes from there to the sea. On the north is ^cq Michmethath. Then on the east the boundary turns around toward Taanath-shiloh and passes along beyond it on the east to Janoah, 7 then it goes down from Janoah to Ataroth and ^cr to Naarah, and touches Jericho, ending at the Jordan. 8 From ^cs Tappuah the boundary goes westward to the brook Kanah and ends at the sea. Such is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Ephraim by their clans, 9 together with ^ct the towns that were set apart for the people of Ephraim within the inheritance of the Manassites, all those towns with their villages. 10 However, ^cu they did not drive out the Canaanites who lived in Gezer, so the Canaanites have lived in the midst of Ephraim to this day but have been made ^cv to do forced labor.

Joshua 17

1 Then allotment was made to the people of Manasseh, for he was ^cw the firstborn of Joseph. To ^cx Machir the firstborn of Manasseh, the father of Gilead, ^cy were allotted Gilead and Bashan, because he was a man of war. 2 And allotments were made ^cz to the rest of the people of Manasseh by their clans, Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. These were the male descendants of Manasseh the son of Joseph, by their clans.

3 Now ^da Zelophehad the son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, had no sons, but only daughters, and these are the names of his daughters: ^db Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. 4 They approached ^dc Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the leaders and said, ^dd “The  Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance along with our brothers.” So according to the mouth of the  Lord he gave them an inheritance among the brothers of their father. 5 Thus there fell to Manasseh ten portions, besides ^de the land of Gilead and Bashan, which is on the other side of the Jordan, 6 because the daughters of Manasseh received an inheritance along with his sons. The land of Gilead was allotted to the rest of the people of Manasseh.

7 The territory of Manasseh reached from Asher to ^df Michmethath, which is east of Shechem. Then the boundary goes along southward to the inhabitants of En-tappuah. 8 The land of ^dg Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, but the town of Tappuah on the boundary of Manasseh belonged to the people of Ephraim. 9  ^dh Then the boundary went down to the brook Kanah. These cities, to the south of the brook, among the cities of Manasseh, belong to Ephraim. Then the boundary of Manasseh goes on the north side of the brook and ends at the sea, 10 the land to the south being Ephraim’s and that to the north being Manasseh’s, with the sea forming its boundary. On the north Asher is reached, and on the east Issachar. 11 Also in Issachar and in Asher ^di Manasseh had Beth-shean and its villages, and Ibleam and its villages, and the inhabitants of ^dj Dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of En-dor and its villages, and the inhabitants of ^dk Taanach and its villages, and the inhabitants of ^dl Megiddo and its villages; ^dm the third is Naphath. ▼

▼ The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain

12  ^do Yet the people of Manasseh could not take possession of those cities, but the Canaanites persisted in dwelling in that land. 13 Now when the people of Israel grew strong, they put the Canaanites ^dp to forced labor, but did not utterly drive them out.

14 Then ^dq the people of Joseph spoke to Joshua, saying, “Why have you given me but ^dr one lot and one portion as an inheritance, although I am ^ds a numerous people, since all along the  Lord has blessed me?” 15 And Joshua said to them, “If you are a numerous people, go up by yourselves to the forest, and there clear ground for yourselves in the land of the Perizzites and ^dt the Rephaim, since ^du the hill country of Ephraim is too narrow for you.” 16 The people of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us. Yet all the Canaanites who dwell in the plain have ^dv chariots of iron, both those in Beth-shean and its villages and those in ^dw the Valley of Jezreel.” 17 Then Joshua said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasseh, “You are a numerous people and have great power. You shall not have one allotment only, 18 but the hill country shall be yours, for though it is a forest, you shall clear it and possess it to its farthest borders. For you shall drive out the Canaanites ^dx though they have chariots of iron, and though they are strong.”

Joshua 18

Allotment of the Remaining Land

1 Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at ^dy Shiloh and set up ^dz the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them.

2 There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned. 3 So Joshua said to the people of Israel, ^ea “How long will you put off going in to take possession of the land, which the  Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land. They shall write a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me. 5 They shall divide it into seven portions. ^eb Judah shall continue in his territory on the south, ^ec and the house of Joseph shall continue in their territory on the north. 6 And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me. ^ed And I will cast lots for you here before the  Lord our God. 7  ^ee The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the  Lord is their heritage. ^ef And Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the  Lord gave them.”

8 So the men arose and went, and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description and return to me. And I will cast lots for you here before the  Lord in Shiloh.” 9 So the men went and passed up and down in the land and wrote in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions. Then they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua ^eg cast lots for them in Shiloh before the  Lord. And there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, ^eh to each his portion.

The Inheritance for Benjamin

11 The lot of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to its clans came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the people of Judah and the people of Joseph. 12  ^ei On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan. ^ej Then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward, and it ends at the wilderness of ^ek Beth-aven. 13 From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of ^el Luz (that is, Bethel), then the boundary goes down to ^em Ataroth-addar, on the mountain that lies south of Lower ^en Beth-horon. 14 Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the ^eo western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-horon, and it ends at Kiriath-baal ( ^ep that is, Kiriath-jearim), a city belonging to the people of Judah. This forms the western side. 15 And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kiriath-jearim. And the boundary goes from there to Ephron, ▼

▼ See 15:9; Hebrew westward

^er to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah. 16 Then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks ^es the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the Valley of ^et Rephaim. And it then goes down the ^eu Valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jebusites, and downward to ^ev En-rogel. 17 Then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-shemesh, and from there goes to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it goes down to ^ew the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben, 18 and passing on to the north of ^ex the shoulder of Beth-arabah ▼

▼ Septuagint; Hebrew  to the shoulder over against the Arabah

it goes down to ^ez the Arabah. 19 Then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of ^fa Beth-hoglah. And the boundary ends at the northern bay of ^fb the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border. 20 The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin, according to their clans, boundary by boundary all around.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the people of Benjamin according to their clans were ^fc Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-keziz, 22 Beth-arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Chephar-ammoni, Ophni, Geba—twelve cities with their villages: 25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Chephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph ^fd Jebus ▼

▼ Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew the Jebusite

(that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah ▼

▼ Hebrew Gibeath

and Kiriath-jearim ▼

▼ Septuagint; Hebrew Kiriath

—fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the people of Benjamin according to its clans.

Joshua 19

The Inheritance for Simeon

1 The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of the people of Simeon, according to their clans, ^fh and their inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the people of Judah. 2  ^fi And they had for their inheritance Beersheba, Sheba, Moladah, 3 Hazar-shual, Balah, Ezem, 4 Eltolad, Bethul, Hormah, 5 Ziklag, Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susah, 6 Beth-lebaoth, and Sharuhen—thirteen cities with their villages; 7 Ain, Rimmon, Ether, and Ashan—four cities with their villages, 8 together with all the villages around these cities as far as Baalath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Simeon according to their clans. 9  ^fj The inheritance of the people of Simeon formed part of the territory of the people of Judah. Because the portion of the people of Judah was too large for them, the people of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.

The Inheritance for Zebulun

10 The third lot came up for the people of Zebulun, according to their clans. And the territory of their inheritance reached as far as Sarid. 11 Then their boundary goes up ^fk westward and on to Mareal and touches Dabbesheth, then the brook that is east of ^fl Jokneam. 12 From Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chisloth-tabor. From there it goes to Daberath, then up to Japhia. 13 From there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Neah, 14 then on the north the boundary turns about to Hannathon, and it ends at the Valley of Iphtahel; 15 and Kattath, Nahalal, ^fm Shimron, Idalah, and Bethlehem—twelve cities with their villages. 16 This is the inheritance of the people of Zebulun, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Issachar

17 The fourth lot came out for Issachar, for the people of Issachar, according to their clans. 18 Their territory included Jezreel, Chesulloth, ^fn Shunem, 19 Hapharaim, Shion, Anaharath, 20 Rabbith, Kishion, Ebez, 21 Remeth, En-gannim, En-haddah, Beth-pazzez. 22 The boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazumah, and Beth-shemesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan—sixteen cities with their villages. 23 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Issachar, according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Asher

24 The fifth lot came out for the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans. 25 Their territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Achshaph, 26 Allammelech, Amad, and Mishal. On the west it touches ^fo Carmel and Shihor-libnath, 27 then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zebulun and the Valley of Iphtahel northward to Beth-emek and Neiel. Then it continues in the north to ^fp Cabul, 28 Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as ^fq Sidon the Great. 29 Then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre. Then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, ▼

▼ Compare Septuagint; Hebrew Mehebel

Achzib, 30 Ummah, Aphek and Rehob—twenty-two cities with their villages. 31 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Asher according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Naphtali

32 The sixth lot came out for the people of Naphtali, for the people of Naphtali, according to their clans. 33 And their boundary ran from Heleph, from ^fs the oak in Zaanannim, and Adami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum, and it ended at the Jordan. 34 Then the boundary turns ^ft westward to Aznoth-tabor and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zebulun at the south and Asher on the west and Judah on the east at the Jordan. 35 The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, ^fu Chinnereth, 36 Adamah, Ramah ^fv Hazor, 37 Kedesh, Edrei, En-hazor, 38 Yiron, Migdal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-shemesh—nineteen cities with their villages. 39 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Naphtali according to their clans—the cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Dan

40 The seventh lot came out for the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans. 41 And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Eshtaol, Ir-shemesh, 42  ^fw Shaalabbin ^fx Aijalon, Ithlah, 43 Elon, Timnah, Ekron, 44 Eltekeh, Gibbethon, Baalath, 45 Jehud, Bene-berak, Gath-rimmon, 46 and Me-jarkon and Rakkon with the territory over against ^fy Joppa. 47 When ^fz the territory of the people of Dan was lost to them, the people of Dan went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and striking it with the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor. 48 This is the inheritance of the tribe of the people of Dan, according to their clans—these cities with their villages.

The Inheritance for Joshua

49 When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun. 50 By command of the  Lord they gave him the city that he asked, ^ga Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. And he rebuilt the city and settled in it.

51  ^gb These are the inheritances that Eleazar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot ^gc at Shiloh before the  Lord, at the entrance of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.