Josué 15

The borders of Judah

¹The land that fell by lot to the tribe of Judah, clan by clan, reached south to the border of Edom and the wilderness of Zin, at the far southern end. ²Their southern border ran from the end of the Dead Sea, from the bay that faces south. ³It goes out south of the Ascent of Akrabbim, passes along to Zin, goes up south of Kadesh-barnea, passes Hezron, goes up to Addar and turns toward Karka, ⁴passes Azmon, and goes out to the Wadi of Egypt, ending at the sea. This will be your southern border. ⁵On the east, the Dead Sea forms the border, up to the mouth of the Jordan. On the north side the border begins at the bay where the Jordan enters the sea. ⁶The border goes up to Beth-hoglah and passes north of Beth-arabah, then goes up to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. ⁷From the Valley of Achor the border goes up to Debir and turns north toward Gilgal, which faces the Ascent of Adummim, on the south side of the wadi. It goes on to the waters of En-shemesh and comes out at En-rogel. ⁸Then the border goes up the Valley of Ben-hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite city, that is, Jerusalem. From there it goes up to the hilltop that looks across the Valley of Hinnom from the west, at the northern end of the Valley of Rephaim. ⁹From the top of the hill the border curves around to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah, goes out to the towns of Mount Ephron, and bends around to Baalah, that is, Kiriath-jearim. ¹⁰From Baalah the border turns west to Mount Seir, passes along the northern slope of Mount Jearim, that is, Chesalon, then goes down to Beth-shemesh and on to Timnah. ¹¹The border goes out to the slope north of Ekron, curves around to Shikkeron, passes along to Mount Baalah and goes out to Jabneel. It ends at the sea. ¹²The western border is the Great Sea and its coast. These are the borders of the people of Judah on every side, clan by clan. ¹³Caleb son of Jephunneh was given a share among the people of Judah, as the LORD had commanded Joshua. It was Kiriath-arba, that is, Hebron. Arba was the father of Anak. ¹⁴Caleb drove out from there the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, Ahiman and Talmai, the descendants of Anak. ¹⁵From there he went up against the people who lived in Debir. Debir used to be called Kiriath-sepher. ¹⁶Caleb said, “I will give my daughter Achsah as a wife to the man who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it.” ¹⁷Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s brother, captured it, so Caleb gave him his daughter Achsah as his wife.^{a 18}When she came to Othniel, she urged him to ask her father for a field. As she got down from her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What do you want?”^{b 19}She answered, “Give me a gift. Because the land you have given me is in the Negev, give me springs of water too.” So Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs.

The towns of Judah

²⁰This is the inheritance of the tribe of Judah, clan by clan. ²¹The towns at the far end of the tribe of Judah, toward the border of Edom in the Negev, were Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, ²²Kinah, Dimonah, Adadah, ²³Kedesh, Hazor, Ithnan, ²⁴Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, ²⁵Hazor-hadattah, Kerioth-hezron (that is, Hazor), ²⁶Amam, Shema, Moladah, ²⁷Hazar-gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-pelet, ²⁸Hazar-shual, Beer-sheba, Biziothiah,^{c 29}Baalah, Iim, Ezem, ³⁰Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, ³¹Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, ³²Lebaoth, Shilhim, Ain and Rimmon: in all, twenty-nine towns and their villages.^d

Towns in the foothills

³³In the foothills: Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, ³⁴Zanoah, En-gannim, Tappuah, Enam, ³⁵Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, ³⁶Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah and Gederothaim: fourteen towns and their villages.^{e 37}Zenan, Hadashah, Migdal-gad, ³⁸Dilean, Mizpeh, Joktheel, ³⁹Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, ⁴⁰Cabbon, Lahmas, Chitlish,^{f 41}Gederoth, Beth-dagon, Naamah and Makkedah: sixteen towns and their villages.

⁴²Libnah, Ether, Ashan, ⁴³Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, ⁴⁴Keilah, Achzib and Mareshah: nine towns and their villages. ⁴⁵Ekron with its towns and villages; ⁴⁶from Ekron west to the sea, all the towns near Ashdod, with their villages; ⁴⁷Ashdod with its towns and villages, and Gaza with its towns and villages, as far as the Wadi of Egypt and the coast of the Great Sea.

Towns in the hill country

⁴⁸In the hill country: Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, ⁴⁹Dannah, Kiriath-sannah (that is, Debir), ⁵⁰Anab, Eshtemoh, Anim, ⁵¹Goshen, Holon and Giloh: eleven towns and their villages. ⁵²Arab, Rumah, Eshan,^{g 53}Janum, Beth-tappuah, Aphekah, ⁵⁴Humtah, Kiriath-arba (that is, Hebron) and Zior: nine towns and their villages.

⁵⁵Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, ⁵⁶Jezreel, Jokdeam, Zanoah, ⁵⁷Kain, Gibeah and Timnah: ten towns and their villages. ⁵⁸Halhul, Beth-zur, Gedor, ⁵⁹Maarath, Beth-anoth and Eltekon: six towns and their villages.^{h 60}Kiriath-baal (that is, Kiriath-jearim) and Rabbah: two towns and their villages.

Towns in the wilderness

⁶¹In the wilderness: Beth-arabah, Middin, Secacah, ⁶²Nibshan, the City of Salt and En-gedi: six towns and their villages. ⁶³But the people of Judah could not drive out the Jebusites, who lived in Jerusalem, and the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah to this day.