Joshua 18

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

Then the whole assembly of the people of Israel met together at Shiloh. They set up the tent of meeting there and they conquered the land before them.

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

There were still seven tribes among the people of Israel whose inheritance had not been assigned.

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

Joshua said to the people of Israel, “How long will you put off going into the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors, has given you?

4 Give out from among you three men for [each] tribe: and I will send them, and they shall rise, and go through the land, and describe it according to the inheritance of them; and they shall come [again] to me.

Appoint for yourselves three men from each tribe, and I will send them out. They will set out and survey the land up and down. They will write out a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then they will come back to me.

5 And they shall divide it into seven parts: Judah shall abide in their coast on the south, and the house of Joseph shall abide in their coasts on the north.

They will divide it into seven sections. Judah will remain in their territory on the south, and the house of Joseph will continue in their territory in the north.

6 Ye shall therefore describe the land [into] seven parts, and bring [the description] hither to me, that I may cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.

You will describe the land in seven sections and bring the description here to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God.

7 But the Levites have no part among you; for the priesthood of the LORD [is] their inheritance: and Gad, and Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh, have received their inheritance beyond Jordan on the east, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them.

The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of Yahweh is their inheritance. Gad, Reuben, and the half tribe of Manasseh have received their inheritance, beyond Jordan. This is the inheritance that Moses the servant of Yahweh gave them.”

8 And the men arose, and went away: 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, that I may here cast lots for you before the LORD in Shiloh.

So the men got up and went. Joshua commanded those who went to write the description of the land, saying, “Go up and down in the land and write a description of it and return to me. I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh at Shiloh.”

9 And the men went and passed through the land, and described it by cities into seven parts in a book, and came [again] to Joshua to the host at Shiloh.

The men left and walked up and down in the land and wrote a description of it in a scroll by its cities in seven sections, listing the cities in each section. Then they returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh.

10 And 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.

Then Joshua cast lots for them at Shiloh before Yahweh. It was there that Joshua assigned the land to the people of Israel, and to each was given his portion of the land.

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

The assignment of land for the tribe of Benjamin clan by clan. The territory of their assigned land was located between the descendants of Judah and the descendants of Joseph.

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

On the north side, their border began at the Jordan. The border went up to the ridge north of Jericho, and then up through the hill country westward. There it reached the wilderness of Beth Aven.

13 And the border went over from thence toward Luz, to the side of Luz, which [is] Beth-el, southward; and the border descended to Ataroth-adar, near the hill that [lieth] on the south side of the nether Beth-horon.

From there the border passed along south in the direction of Luz (the same place as Bethel). Then the border went down to Ataroth Addar, by the mountain that lies south of Beth Horon.

14 And the border was drawn [thence], and compassed the corner of the sea southward, from the hill that [lieth] before Beth-horon southward; and the goings out thereof were at Kirjath-baal, which [is] Kirjath-jearim, a city of the children of Judah: this [was] the west quarter.

The boundary then went in another direction: On the western side it turned toward the south, heading toward the mountain across from Beth Horon. This boundary ended at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a city that belonged to the tribe of Judah. This formed the border on the western side.

15 And the south quarter [was] from the end of Kirjath-jearim, and the border went out on the west, and went out to the well of waters of Nephtoah:

The south side began just outside of Kiriath Jearim. The border went from there to Ephron, to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.

16 And the border came down to the end of the mountain that [lieth] before the valley of the son of Hinnom, [and] which [is] in the valley of the giants on the north, and descended to the valley of Hinnom, to the side of Jebusi on the south, and descended to En-rogel,

The boundary then went down to the border of the mountain which was opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom, which was at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. It then went down to the Valley of Hinnom, south of the slope of the Jebusites, and continued down to En Rogel.

17 And was drawn from the north, and went forth to En-shemesh, and went forth toward Geliloth, which [is] over against the going up of Adummim, and descended to the stone of Bohan the son of Reuben,

It turned northward, going in the direction of En Shemesh, and from there it went out to Geliloth, which was opposite the ascent of Adummim. Then it went down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben.

18 And passed along toward the side over against Arabah northward, and went down unto Arabah:

It passed on to the north of the shoulder of Beth Arabah and down to the Arabah.

19 And the border passed along to the side of Beth-hoglah northward: and the outgoings of the border were at the north bay of the salt sea at the south end of Jordan: this [was] the south coast.

The border passed on to the north shoulder of Beth Hoglah. The border ended at the north bay of the Salt Sea, at the southern end of the Jordan. This was the boundary on the south.

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

The Jordan formed its border on the eastern side. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, and it was given clan by clan, border after border, all around.

21 Now the cities of the tribe of the children of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, and Beth-hoglah, and the valley of Keziz,

Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, had these cities: Jericho, Beth Hoglah, Emek Keziz,

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

Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel,

23 And Avim, and Parah, and Ophrah,

Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,

24 And Chephar-haammonai, and Ophni, and Gaba; twelve cities with their villages:

Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba. There were twelve cities, including their villages.

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

There were also the cities of Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth,

26 And Mizpeh, and Chephirah, and Mozah,

Mizpah, Kephirah, Mozah,

27 And Rekem, and Irpeel, and Taralah,

Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah,

28 And Zelah, Eleph, and Jebusi, which [is] Jerusalem, Gibeath, [and] Kirjath; fourteen cities with their villages. This [is] the inheritance of the children of Benjamin according to their families.

Zelah, Haeleph, Jebus (the same as Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. There were fourteen cities, including their villages. This was the inheritance of Benjamin for their clans.