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.

The Israeli people captured all the land [that they were able to], but there were still seven tribes that had not been allotted any land. The Israeli people all gathered at Shiloh, and they set up the Sacred Tent there.

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

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 them, “Why are you waiting a long time to take control of [the rest of] the land that Yahweh, the God whom your ancestors [worshiped], has promised to give to you [RHQ]?

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.

Choose three men from each of your seven tribes. Then I will send them to explore [the parts of] the land [which you have not occupied yet. When they finish exploring it], they must write a report, in which they will (make a map/show the boundaries) of the land that each tribe wants to receive.

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 the remaining land into seven parts. The tribe of Judah will keep its land in the south, and the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh will keep their land 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.

But in their report, the men from the seven tribes should describe the seven parts of the remaining land [that they wish to receive], and bring the report to me. While Yahweh is watching, I will (cast lots/throw marked stones) [to decide which land should be allotted to each tribe].

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.

But the tribe of Levi will not be allotted any land, because their [reward is that they will be] Yahweh’s priests. The tribes of Gad, Reuben, and half the tribe of Manasseh have already been allotted their land on the east side of the Jordan [River], just as Moses, the man who served God [well], decided, [so they will not get any more land].”

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.

When the men who were chosen [got ready to] leave, Joshua told them, “Go and explore the land. Then write a report of what you have seen, and bring it back to me. Then while Yahweh is watching, I will (cast lots/throw marked stones) here at Shiloh, [to determine what area each tribe will receive].”

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.

So the men left and walked through the area. Then they described in a scroll each town that was in the seven parts [into which they had divided] the land. Then they returned to Joshua, who was still 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.

[After Joshua read their report], while Yahweh was watching, he (cast lots/threw marked stones) to choose which land would be allotted to each of the seven Israeli tribes.

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 first tribe that was allotted land was the tribe of Benjamin. Each clan in that tribe was allotted some of the land that was between the area that was allotted to the tribe of Judah and the area that was allotted to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

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.

The northern border started at the Jordan [River] and extended west along the northern side of Jericho, into the hilly area. From there the border extended west to the desert near Beth-Aven [town].

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 it extended southwest to Luz (which is [now named] Bethel). From there it extended southwest to Ataroth-Addar [town], which is on the hill south of Lower Beth-Horon [city].

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.

At the hill south of Beth-Horon, the border turned and extended south to Kiriath-Baal [town], which is [also named] Kiriath-Jearim. That is a town where people of the tribe of Judah live. That was the western border of the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin.

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 southern border of their land started near Kiriath-Jearim and extended west to Nephtoah Springs.

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,

From there it extended south to the bottom of the hill, near Ben-Hinnom Valley, on the north side of Repha Valley. The border extended south along the Hinnom Valley, south of the city where the Jebus people-group lived, 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,

From there the border extended west to En-Shemesh, and continued to Geliloth near Adummim Pass. Then it extended to the great stone of Reuben’s son Bohan.

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

From there the border extended to the northern edge of Beth-Arabah [town] and down into the Jordan [River] Valley.

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.

From there it extended east to the northern edge of Beth-Hoglah [town] and ended at the north end of the Dead Sea, where the Jordan [River flows into the Dead Sea]. That was the southern boundary [of the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin].

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 [River] was the eastern boundary of the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin. Those were the boundaries of the land allotted to them.

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,

The cities in the land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin were 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. Altogether there were fourteen towns and the surrounding villages.

25 Gibeon, and Ramah, and Beeroth,

The tribe of Benjamin also had the towns 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, the city where the Jebus people-group lived (which is [now named] Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath. Altogether there were 14 towns and the surrounding villages. All that area was allotted to the clans of the tribe of Benjamin.