Joshua 21

₁The leaders of the families of the Levites came to the priest Eleazar and to Joshua, son of Nun, and to the leaders of the families of the tribes of Israel. ₂The leaders talked to them in the town of Shiloh, in the land of Canaan. They said: ‘The Lord sent Moses to say that we must get towns to live in and fields for our animals.’

₃The Israelites did what the Lord said. They gave the Levites some towns, with fields for their cattle. ₄They drew_lots and the families of the Kohathites got their land. They gave 13 towns to the priests who were descendants of Aaron. These towns were in the land of the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin. ₅They gave 10 towns to the other Levites of the Kohath family in the land of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan and the half tribe of Manasseh. ₆They gave 13 towns to the Gershon family in the land of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and the other half tribe of Manasseh who lived in Bashan. ₇They gave 12 towns to the Merari family in the land of the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun.

₈That is how the Israelites drew_lots to give towns with fields to the Levites. That is what God had told Moses to do.

₉Here are the names of the towns that they gave the Levites in the land of the tribes of Judah and Simeon. ₁₀They first drew_lots and the Levites, who were descendants of Aaron from the Kohath family, got their land. ₁₁They got the towns and the villages of Kiriath-Arba in the mountains of Judah. The other name of Kiriath-Arba is Hebron. Arba was the forefather of the Anakite people, ₁₂but they gave the fields and villages near Hebron to Caleb, son of Jephunneh.

₁₃The descendants of the priest Aaron got these towns: the towns_of_safety Hebron, Libnah, ₁₄Jattir, Eshtemoa ₁₅Holon, Debir, ₁₆Ain, Juttah and Beth-Shemesh, each town with its fields. These were the 9 towns of these 2 tribes. ₁₇They also gave them towns in the land of the Benjamin tribe. These towns were Gibeon, Geba, ₁₈Anathoth and Almon. There were 4 towns with their fields. ₁₉The priests who were descendants of Aaron got 13 towns, each town with its villages.

₂₀The Israelites drew_lots and the other Levites from the Kohath family got their land. From the Ephraim tribe they got ₂₁the town_of_safety Shechem in the mountains of Ephraim and Gezer, ₂₂Kibzaim and Beth-Horon. These were 4 towns with the fields for their cattle. ₂₃From the Dan tribe they got these towns: Eltekeh, Gibbethon, ₂₄Aijalon and Gath-Rimmon with the fields. There were 4 towns. ₂₅From the half tribe of Manasseh they got these towns: Taanach and Gath-Rimmon with the fields around the towns. There were 2 towns. ₂₆The other Levites in the Kohath family got 10 towns with the fields around the towns for their cattle.

₂₇The Levites in the Gershon family got the town_of_safety Golan in the land of Bashan with its field and the town of Be-Eshterah with its field. There were 2 towns. ₂₈They got these towns from the Issachar tribe: Kishion, Daberath, ₂₉Jarmuth and En-Gannim with their fields. There were 4 towns. ₃₀From the Asher tribe they got these towns: Mishal, Abdon, ₃₁Helkath and Rehob with the fields around the towns. There were 4 towns. ₃₂From the Naphtali tribe they got these towns: the town_of_safety Kedesh in Galilee and the towns Hammoth-Dor and Kartan with the fields around the towns. There were 3 towns. ₃₃The Gershon families got 13 towns.

₃₄The other Levites, the Merari family, got these towns from the Zebulun tribe: Jokneam, Kartah, ₃₅Dimnah and Nahalal with the fields around the towns. There were 4 towns. ₃₆From the Reuben tribe they got these towns: Bezer, Jahaz, ₃₇Kedemoth and Mephaath, with the villages and fields around the towns. ₃₈From the Gad tribe they got these towns: the town_of_safety Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim, ₃₉Heshbon and Jazer, with the fields around the towns. There were 4 towns. ₄₀The other Levites, the Merari family, got 12 towns. ₄₁The Levites got 48 towns from the Israelites with the fields around the towns. ₄₂Every town had its own field.

₄₃The Lord gave the Israelites the land that He had promised to their forefathers. The Israelites took the land and they lived there. ₄₄The Lord helped the Israelites defeat all their enemies around them as He had promised their forefathers. Not one of their enemies could win and stand against them. The Lord helped the Israelites defeat all their enemies. ₄₅Everything the Lord had promised the Israelites happened as He had said.