Category: Joshua

[13:8] The tribes of Reuben and Gad and the other half of the tribe of Manasseh had already received the land that Moses, the Lord's servant, had given them; it was on the east side of the Jordan River.

[13:9] Their territory extended to Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and the city in the middle of that valley and included all of the plateau from Medeba to Dibon.

[13:10] It went as far as the border of Ammon and included all the cities that had been ruled by the Amorite king Sihon, who had ruled at Heshbon.

[13:11] It included Gilead, the regions of Geshur and Maacah, all of Mount Hermon, and all of Bashan as far as Salecah.

[13:12] It included the kingdom of Og, the last of the Rephaim, who had ruled at Ashtaroth and Edrei. Moses had defeated these people and driven them out.

[13:13] However, the Israelites did not drive out the people of Geshur and Maacah; they still live in Israel.

[13:14] Moses had given no land to the tribe of Levi. As the Lord had told Moses, they were to receive as their possession a share of the sacrifices burned on the altar to the Lord God of Israel.

[13:15] Moses had given a part of the land to the families of the tribe of Reuben as their possession.

[13:16] Their territory extended to Aroer (on the edge of the Arnon Valley) and the city in the middle of that valley and included all the plateau around Medeba.

[13:17] It included Heshbon and all the cities on the plateau: Dibon, Bamoth Baal, Beth Baalmeon,

[13:18] Jahaz, Kedemoth, Mephaath,

[13:19] Kiriathaim, Sibmah, Zereth Shahar on the hill in the valley,

[13:20] Bethpeor, the slopes of Mount Pisgah, and Beth Jeshimoth.

[13:21] It included all the cities of the plateau and the whole kingdom of the Amorite king Sihon, who had ruled at Heshbon. Moses defeated him, as well as the rulers of Midian: Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. All of them had ruled the land for King Sihon.

[13:22] Among those whom the people of Israel killed was the fortune teller Balaam son of Beor.

[13:23] The Jordan was the western border of the tribe of Reuben. These were the cities and towns given to the families of the tribe of Reuben as their possession.

[13:24] Moses had also given a part of the land to the families of the tribe of Gad as their possession.

[13:25] Their territory included Jazer and all the cities of Gilead, half the land of Ammon as far as Aroer, which is east of Rabbah;

[13:26] their land extended from Heshbon to Ramath Mizpeh and Betonim, from Mahanaim to the border of Lodebar.

[13:27] In the Jordan Valley it included Beth Haram, Bethnimrah, Sukkoth, and Zaphon, the rest of the kingdom of King Sihon of Heshbon. Their western border was the Jordan River as far north as Lake Galilee.

[13:28] These were the cities and towns given to the families of the tribe of Gad as their possession.

[13:29] Moses had given a part of the land to the families of half the tribe of Manasseh as their possession.

[13:30] Their territory extended to Mahanaim and included all of Bashan—the whole kingdom of Og, the king of Bashan, as well as all sixty of the villages of Jair in Bashan.

[13:31] It included half of Gilead, as well as Ashtaroth and Edrei, the capital cities of Og's kingdom in Bashan. All this was given to half the families descended from Machir son of Manasseh.

[13:32] This is how Moses divided the land east of Jericho and the Jordan when he was in the plains of Moab.

[13:33] But Moses did not assign any land to the tribe of Levi. He told them that their possession was to be a share of the offerings to the Lord God of Israel.

[14:1] What follows is an account of how the land of Canaan west of the Jordan was divided among the people of Israel. Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders of the families of the Israelite tribes divided it among the population.

[14:2] As the Lord had commanded Moses, the territories of the nine and one-half tribes west of the Jordan were determined by drawing lots.

[14:5] The people of Israel divided the land as the Lord had commanded Moses.

[14:6] One day some people from the tribe of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. One of them, Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, said to him, “You know what the Lord said in Kadesh Barnea about you and me to Moses, the man of God.

[14:7] I was forty years old when the Lord's servant Moses sent me from Kadesh Barnea to spy out this land. I brought an honest report back to him.

[14:8] The men who went with me, however, made our people afraid. But I faithfully obeyed the Lord my God.

[14:9] Because I did, Moses promised me that my children and I would certainly receive as our possession the land which I walked over.

[14:10] But now, look. It has been forty-five years since the Lord said that to Moses. That was when Israel was going through the desert, and the Lord, as he promised, has kept me alive ever since. Look at me! I am eighty-five years old

[14:11] and am just as strong today as I was when Moses sent me out. I am still strong enough for war or for anything else.

[14:12] Now then, give me the hill country that the Lord promised me on that day when my men and I reported. We told you then that the race of giants called the Anakim were there in large walled cities. Maybe the Lord will be with me, and I will drive them out, just as the Lord said.”

[14:13] Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him the city of Hebron as his possession.

[14:14] Hebron still belongs to the descendants of Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite, because he faithfully obeyed the Lord, the God of Israel.

[14:15] Before this, Hebron was called the city of Arba. (Arba had been the greatest of the Anakim.) There was now peace in the land.

[15:1] The families of the tribe of Judah received a part of the land described as follows: The land reached south to the southernmost point of the wilderness of Zin, at the border of Edom.

[15:2] This southern border ran from the south end of the Dead Sea,

[15:3] went southward from the Akrabbim Pass and on to Zin. It ran south of Kadesh Barnea, past Hezron and up to Addar, turned toward Karka,

[15:4] went on to Azmon, and followed the stream on the border of Egypt to the Mediterranean Sea, where the border ended. That was the southern border of Judah.

[15:5] The eastern border was the Dead Sea, all the way up to the inlet where the Jordan empties into it. The northern border began there,

[15:6] extended up to Beth Hoglah, and went north of the ridge overlooking the Jordan Valley. Then it went up to the Stone of Bohan (Bohan was a son of Reuben),

[15:7] from Trouble Valley up to Debir, and then turned north toward Gilgal, which faces Adummim Pass on the south side of the valley. It then went on to the springs of Enshemesh, out to Enrogel,

[15:8] and up through Hinnom Valley on the south side of the hill where the Jebusite city of Jerusalem was located. The border then proceeded up to the top of the hill on the west side of Hinnom Valley, at the northern end of Rephaim Valley.

[15:9] From there it went to the Springs of Nephtoah and out to the cities near Mount Ephron. There it turned toward Baalah (or Kiriath Jearim),

[15:10] where it circled west of Baalah toward the hill country of Edom, went on the north side of Mount Jearim (or Chesalon), down to Beth Shemesh, and on past Timnah.

[15:11] The border then went out to the hill north of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, past Mount Baalah, and on to Jamnia. It ended at the Mediterranean Sea,

[15:12] which formed the western border. Within these borders lived the people of the families of Judah.

[15:13] As the Lord commanded Joshua, part of the territory of Judah was given to Caleb son of Jephunneh, from the tribe of Judah. He received Hebron, the city belonging to Arba, father of Anak.

[15:14] Caleb drove the descendants of Anak out of the city—the clans of Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai.

[15:15] From there he went to attack the people living in Debir. (This city used to be called Kiriath Sepher.)

[15:16] Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah in marriage to the man who succeeds in capturing Kiriath Sepher.”

[15:17] Othniel, the son of Caleb's brother Kenaz, captured the city, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah in marriage.

[15:18] On the wedding day Othniel urged her to ask her father for a field. She got down from her donkey, and Caleb asked her what she wanted.

[15:19] She answered, “I want some water holes. The land you have given me is in the dry country.” So Caleb gave her the upper and lower springs.

[15:20] This is the land that the families of the tribe of Judah received as their possession.

[15:21] The cities farthest south that belonged to them, those that were near the border of Edom, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur,

[15:22] Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah,

[15:23] Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan,

[15:24] Ziph, Telem, Bealoth,

[15:25] Hazor Hadattah, Kerioth Hezron (or Hazor),

[15:26] Amam, Shema, Moladah,

[15:27] Hazar Gaddah, Heshmon, Bethpelet,

[15:28] Hazar Shual, Beersheba, Biziothiah,

[15:29] Baalah, Iim, Ezem,

[15:30] Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah,

[15:31] Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah,

[15:32] Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain, and Rimmon: twenty-nine cities in all, along with the towns around them.

[15:33] The cities in the foothills were Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah,

[15:34] Zanoah, Engannim, Tappuah, Enam,

[15:35] Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah,

[15:36] Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim: fourteen cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:37] There were also Zenan, Hadashah, Migdalgad,

[15:38] Dilean, Mizpah, Joktheel,

[15:39] Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon,

[15:40] Cabbon, Lahmam, Chitlish,

[15:41] Gederoth, Bethdagon, Naamah, and Makkedah: sixteen cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:42] There were also Libnah, Ether, Ashan,

[15:43] Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib,

[15:44] Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah: nine cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:45] There was Ekron with its towns and villages,

[15:46] and all the cities and towns near Ashdod, from Ekron to the Mediterranean Sea.

[15:47] There were Ashdod and Gaza, with their towns and villages, reaching to the stream on the border of Egypt and the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

[15:48] In the hill country there were Shamir, Jattir, Socoh,

[15:49] Dannah, Kiriath Sepher (or Debir),

[15:50] Anab, Eshtemoa, Anim,

[15:51] Goshen, Holon, and Giloh: eleven cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:52] There were Arab, Dumah, Eshan,

[15:53] Janim, Beth Tappuah, Aphekah,

[15:54] Humtah, Hebron, and Zior: nine cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:55] There were Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah,

[15:56] Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah,

[15:57] Kain, Gibeah, and Timnah: ten cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:58] There were Halhul, Bethzur, Gedor,

[15:59] Maarath, Bethanoth, and Eltekon: six cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:60] There were Kiriath Baal (or Kiriath Jearim) and Rabbah: two cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:61] In the desert there were Beth Arabah, Middin, Secacah,

[15:62] Nibshan, Salt City, and Engedi: six cities, along with the towns around them.

[15:63] But the people of Judah were not able to drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem. The Jebusites still live there with the people of Judah.

[16:1] The southern boundary of the land assigned to the descendants of Joseph started from the Jordan near Jericho, at a point east of the springs of Jericho, and went into the desert. It went from Jericho up into the hill country as far as Bethel.

[16:2] From Bethel it went to Luz, passing on to Ataroth Addar, where the Archites lived.

[16:3] It then went west to the area of the Japhletites, as far as the area of Lower Beth Horon. It went on from there to Gezer and ended at the Mediterranean Sea.

[16:4] The descendants of Joseph, the tribes of Ephraim and West Manasseh, received this land as their possession.