Joshua 21

1 Then the chief fathers of the Levites drew near to Eleazar the priest, and to Joshua the son of Nun, and to the chief fathers of the tribes of the children of Israel;

Then the heads of the families of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua, the son of Nun, and to the heads of families of the tribes of the children of Israel;

2 and they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, saying, Jehovah commanded through Moses to give us cities to dwell in, and their suburbs for our cattle.

And said to them in Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The Lord gave orders by Moses that we were to have towns for living in, with their grass-lands for our cattle.

3 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, according to the word of Jehovah, these cities and their suburbs.

And the children of Israel out of their heritage gave to the Levites these towns with their grass-lands, by the order of the Lord.

4 And the lot came forth for the families of the Kohathites. And the children of Aaron the priest, of the Levites, had by lot out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of the Simeonites, and out of the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

And the heritage came out for the families of the Kohathites: the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.

5 And the children of Kohath that remained had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Ephraim, and out of the tribe of Dan, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

The rest of the children of Kohath by their families were given ten towns from the tribes of Ephraim and Dan and the half-tribe of Manasseh.

6 And the children of Gershon had by lot out of the families of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Asher, and out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the half tribe of Manasseh in Bashan, thirteen cities.

The children of Gershon by their families were given thirteen towns from the tribes of Issachar and Asher and Naphtali and the half-tribe of Manasseh which was in Bashan.

7 The children of Merari according to their families had by lot out of the tribe of Reuben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

The children of Merari by their families were given twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben and Gad and Zebulun.

8 And the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities and their suburbs, as Jehovah commanded through Moses.

All these towns with their grass-lands the children of Israel gave by the decision of the Lord to the Levites, as the Lord had given orders by Moses.

9 And they gave out of the tribe of the children of Judah, and out of the tribe of the children of Simeon, these cities which were mentioned by name,

From the tribes of the children of Judah and the children of Simeon they gave these towns, listed here by name:

10 and which the children of Aaron, of the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi had (for theirs was the first lot);

These were for the children of Aaron among the families of the Kohathites, of the children of Levi: for they came first in the distribution.

11 and they gave them Kirjath-Arba, [which Arba was] the father of Anak, that is, Hebron, in the mountain of Judah, with its suburbs round about it.

They gave them Kiriath-arba, the town of Arba, the father of Anak, (which is Hebron) in the hill-country of Judah, with its grass-lands.

12 But the fields of the city and the hamlets thereof gave they to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for his possession.

But the open country round the town, and its unwalled places, they gave to Caleb, the son of Jephunneh, as his property.

13 And they gave to the children of Aaron the priest the city of refuge for the slayer, Hebron and its suburbs; and Libnah and its suburbs,

And to the children of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Libnah with its grass-lands;

14 and Jattir and its suburbs, and Eshtemoa and its suburbs,

And Jattir with its grass-lands, and Eshtemoa with its grass-lands;

15 and Holon and its suburbs, and Debir and its suburbs,

And Holon with its grass-lands, and Debir with its grass-lands;

16 and Ain and its suburbs, and Juttah and its suburbs, [and] Beth-shemesh and its suburbs: nine cities out of those two tribes;

And Ain, and Juttah, and Beth-shemesh, with their grass-lands; nine towns from those two tribes.

17 and out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gibeon and its suburbs, Geba and its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and Geba with their grass-lands;

18 Anathoth and its suburbs, and Almon and its suburbs; four cities.

Anathoth and Almon with their grass-lands, four towns.

19 All the cities of the children of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen cities and their suburbs.

Thirteen towns with their grass-lands were given to the children of Aaron, the priests.

20 And to the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites that remained of the children of Kohath, [they gave cities]. And the cities of their lot were out of the tribe of Ephraim,

The rest of the families of the children of Kohath, the Levites, were given towns from the tribe of Ephraim.

21 and they gave them the city of refuge for the slayer, Shechem and its suburbs in mount Ephraim; and Gezer and its suburbs,

And they gave them Shechem with its grass-lands in the hill-country of Ephraim, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Gezer with its grass-lands;

22 and Kibzaim and its suburbs, and Beth-horon and its suburbs: four cities;

And Kibzaim and Beth-horon with their grass-lands, four towns.

23 and out of the tribe of Dan, Eltekeh and its suburbs, Gibbethon and its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Dan, Elteke and Gibbethon with their grass-lands;

24 Ajalon and its suburbs, Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: four cities;

Aijalon and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, four towns.

25 and out of half the tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and its suburbs and Gath-Rimmon and its suburbs: two cities.

And from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach and Gath-rimmon with their grass-lands, two towns.

26 All the cities were ten and their suburbs, for the families of the children of Kohath that remained.

All the towns of the rest of the families of the children of Kohath were ten with their grass-lands.

27 And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, out of half the tribe of Manasseh, [they gave] the city of refuge for the slayer, Golan in Bashan and its suburbs; and Beeshterah and its suburbs: two cities;

And to the children of Gershon, of the families of the Levites, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh, Golan in Bashan with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Ashtaroth with its grass-lands, two towns.

28 and out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and its suburbs, Dabrath and its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Issachar, Kishion and Daberath with their grass-lands;

29 Jarmuth and its suburbs, En-gannim and its suburbs: four cities;

Jarmuth and En-gannim with their grass-lands, four towns.

30 and out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal and its suburbs, Abdon and its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Asher, Mishal and Abdon, with their grass-lands:

31 Helkath and its suburbs, and Rehob and its suburbs: four cities;

Helkath and Rehob with their grass-lands, four towns.

32 and out of the tribe of Naphtali, the city of refuge for the slayer, Kedesh in Galilee, and its suburbs; and Hammoth-Dor and its suburbs, and Kartan and its suburbs: three cities.

And from the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee with its grass-lands, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Hammoth-dor and Kartan with their grass-lands, three towns.

33 All the cities of the Gershonites according to their families were thirteen cities and their suburbs.

All the towns of the Gershonites with their families were thirteen with their grass-lands.

34 And to the families of the children of Merari, that remained of the Levites, [they gave] out of the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and its suburbs, Kartah and its suburbs,

And to the rest of the Levites, that is, the families of the children of Merari, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun, Jokneam and Kartah with their grass-lands;

35 Dimnah and its suburbs, Nahalal and its suburbs: four cities;

Dimnah and Nahalal with their grass-lands, four towns.

36 and out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and its suburbs, and Jahzah and its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Reuben, Bezer and Jahaz with their grass-lands;

37 Kedemoth and its suburbs, and Mephaath and its suburbs: four cities;

Kedemoth and Mephaath with their grass-lands, four towns.

38 and out of the tribe of Gad, the city of refuge for the slayer, Ramoth in Gilead and its suburbs; and Mahanaim and its suburbs,

And from the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, the town where the taker of life might be safe, and Mahanaim with their grass-lands;

39 Heshbon and its suburbs, Jaazer and its suburbs: four cities in all.

Heshbon and Jazer with their grass-lands, four towns.

40 [These were] all the cities of the children of Merari according to their families, which remained of the families of the Levites, and their lot was twelve cities.

All these towns were given to the children of Merari by their families, that is, the rest of the families of the Levites; and their heritage was twelve towns.

41 All the cities of the Levites within the possession of the children of Israel were forty-eight cities and their suburbs.

All the towns of the Levites, among the heritage of the children of Israel, were forty-eight towns with their grass-lands.

42 Each one of these cities had its suburbs round about it: thus were all these cities.

Every one of these towns had grass-lands round it.

43 And Jehovah gave to Israel all the land which he swore to give unto their fathers; and they took possession of it, and dwelt in it.

So the Lord gave to Israel all the land which he gave by oath to their fathers; so it became their heritage and their living-place.

44 And Jehovah gave them rest round about, according to all that he had sworn unto their fathers; and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them: Jehovah gave all their enemies into their hand.

And the Lord gave them peace on every side, as he had said to their fathers: all those who were against them gave way before them, for the Lord gave them all up into their hands.

45 There failed nothing of all the good things that Jehovah had spoken to the house of Israel: all came to pass.

The Lord kept faith with the house of Israel about all the good which he said he would do for them, and all his words came true.