Josué 21

Towns for the Levites

¹The family heads of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest, to Joshua son of Nun and to the family heads of the tribes of Israel. ²They spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan and said, “The LORD commanded through Moses that we be given towns to live in, and their pasturelands for our livestock.” ³So at the command of the LORD, the Israelites gave the Levites the following towns and their pasturelands out of their own inheritance. ⁴The lot came out for the clans of the Kohathites. The descendants of Aaron the priest, who were among the Levites, received thirteen towns by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon and Benjamin.

⁵The rest of the descendants of Kohath received ten towns by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan and from the half-tribe of Manasseh.

⁶The descendants of Gershon received thirteen towns by lot from the clans of the tribe of Issachar, from the tribes of Asher and Naphtali and from the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan.

⁷The descendants of Merari, clan by clan, received twelve towns from the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Zebulun. ⁸So the Israelites gave these towns and their pasturelands to the Levites by lot, as the LORD had commanded through Moses.

The towns of Aaron’s descendants

⁹From the tribes of Judah and Simeon they gave the towns that are named below. ¹⁰They went to the descendants of Aaron, who belonged to the Kohathite clans among the Levites, because the first lot fell to them. ¹¹They gave them Kiriath-arba (Arba was the father of Anak), that is, Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, and its pasturelands around it. ¹²But the fields of the town and its villages they had already given to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his own property.

¹³To the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave the city of refuge for anyone who had killed someone, Hebron and its pasturelands, along with Libnah and its pasturelands, ¹⁴Jattir and its pasturelands, Eshtemoa and its pasturelands, ¹⁵Holon and its pasturelands, Debir and its pasturelands, ¹⁶Ain and its pasturelands, Juttah and its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh and its pasturelands. These were nine towns from these two tribes.

¹⁷From the tribe of Benjamin they gave Gibeon and its pasturelands, Geba and its pasturelands, ¹⁸Anathoth and its pasturelands, and Almon and its pasturelands: four towns. ¹⁹In all, the descendants of Aaron, the priests, received thirteen towns and their pasturelands.

The towns of the other Kohathite clans

²⁰As for the rest of the Kohathite clans of the Levites, the towns allotted to them were from the tribe of Ephraim. ²¹They gave them the city of refuge for anyone who had killed someone, Shechem and its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, along with Gezer and its pasturelands, ²²Kibzaim and its pasturelands, and Beth-horon and its pasturelands: four towns.

²³From the tribe of Dan they gave Elteke and its pasturelands, Gibbethon and its pasturelands, ²⁴Aijalon and its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon and its pasturelands: four towns.

²⁵From the half-tribe of Manasseh they gave Taanach and its pasturelands, and Gath-rimmon and its pasturelands: two towns.^{a 26}In all, the rest of the Kohathite clans received ten towns and their pasturelands.

The towns of Gershon’s descendants

²⁷To the descendants of Gershon, one of the Levite clans, they gave from the half-tribe of Manasseh the city of refuge for anyone who had killed someone, Golan in Bashan and its pasturelands, and Beeshterah and its pasturelands: two towns.

²⁸From the tribe of Issachar they gave Kishion and its pasturelands, Daberath and its pasturelands, ²⁹Jarmuth and its pasturelands, and En-gannim and its pasturelands: four towns.

³⁰From the tribe of Asher they gave Mishal and its pasturelands, Abdon and its pasturelands, ³¹Helkath and its pasturelands, and Rehob and its pasturelands: four towns.

³²From the tribe of Naphtali they gave the city of refuge for anyone who had killed someone, Kedesh in Galilee and its pasturelands, along with Hammoth-dor and its pasturelands, and Kartan and its pasturelands: three towns. ³³In all, the Gershonite clans received thirteen towns and their pasturelands.

The towns of Merari’s descendants

³⁴To the clans of the descendants of Merari, the rest of the Levites, they gave from the tribe of Zebulun Jokneam and its pasturelands, Kartah and its pasturelands, ³⁵Dimnah and its pasturelands, and Nahalal and its pasturelands: four towns. ³⁶From the tribe of Reuben they gave Bezer and its pasturelands, Jahaz and its pasturelands,^{b 37}Kedemoth and its pasturelands, and Mephaath and its pasturelands: four towns.

³⁸From the tribe of Gad they gave the city of refuge for anyone who had killed someone, Ramoth in Gilead and its pasturelands, along with Mahanaim and its pasturelands, ³⁹Heshbon and its pasturelands, and Jazer and its pasturelands: four towns in all. ⁴⁰All the towns given to the descendants of Merari, clan by clan, the rest of the Levite clans, came by lot to twelve towns. ⁴¹In all, the Levites had forty-eight towns and their pasturelands within the land held by the Israelites. ⁴²Each of these towns had its pasturelands around it; it was the same for all of these towns.

Not one good promise failed

⁴³In this way the LORD gave Israel the whole land that he had sworn to give to their ancestors, and they took possession of it and settled there. ⁴⁴The LORD gave them rest all around them, in keeping with everything he had sworn to their ancestors. Not one of all their enemies could stand against them; the LORD handed all their enemies over to them. ⁴⁵Of all the good promises the LORD had made to the house of Israel, not one failed; every one of them was fulfilled.