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The Last of the Land Is Divided

18 The entire congregation of the Israelites[a] assembled at Shiloh, and they set up there the tent of meeting, and the land was subdued before them.[b] And seven tribes remained among the Israelites[c] who had not been apportioned their inheritance. And Joshua said to the Israelites,[d]How long[e] will you be slack about going to take possession of the land that Yahweh, the God of your ancestors,[f] has given you? Provide three men from each tribe,[g] and I will send them so that they may begin to go through the land and write a description of it according to their inheritance,[h] and let them come to me. They will divide it among themselves into seven portions; Judah will maintain its border[i] from the south, and the house of Joseph will maintain its border[j] from the north. Describe the land in seven divisions, and bring it to me here; I will cast lots for you here before Yahweh our God. The Levites among you have no portion, for their inheritance is the priesthood of Yahweh; Gad, Reuben, and the half-tribe of Manasseh received their inheritance beyond the Jordan to the east, which Moses Yahweh’s servant gave to them.”

And the men went immediately,[k] and Joshua commanded the ones going to describe the land, saying, “Go and walk about through the land, write a description, and return to me, and here I will cast a lot for you before[l] Yahweh at Shiloh.” And the men went and passed through the land, and they described[m] the cities in seven divisions in a book; and they came to Joshua to the camp at Shiloh, 10 and Joshua cast a lot for them at Shiloh before[n] Yahweh, and there he divided the land for the Israelites,[o] to each a portion.[p]

The Allotment of Benjamin

11 And the allotment of the tribe of Benjamin came up according to their families, and the border of their allotment fell[q] between the descendants[r] of Judah and the descendants[s] of Joseph. 12 Their northern border began at the Jordan and went up to the slope of Jericho on the north and continued into the hill country to the west; it ends[t] at the wilderness of Beth Aven. 13 The border passes on from there to Luz, to the slope of Luz to the south (that is, Bethel); then the border goes down to Ataroth Addar to the mountain that is south of Lower Beth-Horon. 14 Then the border changes direction and turns to the western side southward, from the mountain that is opposite[u] Beth-Horon to the south. It ends[v] at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim), a town belonging to the descendants[w] of Judah. This is the western side. 15 The southern side begins on the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim, and the border continues to the west to the spring of the waters of Nephtoah; 16 the border goes down to the foot[x] of the mountain, which is opposite the Valley of Ben Hinnom,[y] which is in the valley of Rephaim to the north; then it does down the valley of Hinnom to the slope of the Jebusites[z] to the south, and then it goes down to En Rogel. 17 It changes direction from the north, and it continues to En Shemesh; it goes out to Geliloth, which is opposite the ascent of Adummim, and it goes down to the stone of Bohan, son of Reuben. 18 It passes on to the slope opposite the Arabah[aa] to the north, and it goes down to the Arabah.[ab] 19 The border passes on to the slope of Beth-hoglah to the north and ends[ac] at the north bay of the Salt Sea[ad] at the south end of the Jordan. This is the southern border. 20 The Jordan forms its border on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, its borders that surrounds them, according to their families.

21 Now the towns of the tribes of the descendants[ae] of Benjamin, according to their families, were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah, Zemaraim, Bethel, 23 Avvim, Parah, Ophrah, 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni, and Geba; twelve cities and their villages.

25 Gibeon, Ramah, Beeroth, 26 Mizpeh, Kephirah, Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zela, Haeleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gibeah, and Kiriath; fourteen cities and their villages. This is the inheritance of the descendants[af] of Benjamin according to their families.

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:1 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  2. Joshua 18:1 Or “in their presence”
  3. Joshua 18:2 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  4. Joshua 18:3 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  5. Joshua 18:3 Literally “Until when”
  6. Joshua 18:3 Or “fathers”
  7. Joshua 18:4 Literally “according to each tribe”
  8. Joshua 18:4 Literally “according to the mouth of their inheritance”
  9. Joshua 18:5 Literally “Judah will stand on its border”
  10. Joshua 18:5 Literally “the house of Joseph will stand on its border”
  11. Joshua 18:8 Literally “the men got up and went”
  12. Joshua 18:8 Or “in the presence of”
  13. Joshua 18:9 Literally “wrote it”
  14. Joshua 18:10 Or “in the presence of”
  15. Joshua 18:10 Literally “sons/children of Israel”
  16. Joshua 18:10 Literally “according to their allotment”
  17. Joshua 18:11 Literally “went out”
  18. Joshua 18:11 Or “sons”
  19. Joshua 18:11 Or “sons”
  20. Joshua 18:12 Literally “the goings out of it were”
  21. Joshua 18:14 Literally “against the face of”
  22. Joshua 18:14 Literally “the goings out of it were”
  23. Joshua 18:14 Or “sons”
  24. Joshua 18:16 Or “to the edge”
  25. Joshua 18:16 Or “valley of the son of-Hinnom”
  26. Joshua 18:16 Hebrew “Jebusite”
  27. Joshua 18:18 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan Valley
  28. Joshua 18:18 A dry region that runs south of the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan Valley
  29. Joshua 18:19 Literally “the goings out of it were”
  30. Joshua 18:19 That is, the Dead Sea
  31. Joshua 18:21 Or “sons”
  32. Joshua 18:28 Or “sons”

Division of the Rest of the Land

18 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh(A) and set up the tent of meeting(B) there. The country was brought under their control, but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.

So Joshua said to the Israelites: “How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you? Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it,(C) according to the inheritance of each.(D) Then they will return to me. You are to divide the land into seven parts. Judah is to remain in its territory on the south(E) and the tribes of Joseph in their territory on the north.(F) After you have written descriptions of the seven parts of the land, bring them here to me and I will cast lots(G) for you in the presence of the Lord our God. The Levites, however, do not get a portion among you, because the priestly service of the Lord is their inheritance.(H) And Gad, Reuben and the half-tribe of Manasseh have already received their inheritance on the east side of the Jordan. Moses the servant of the Lord gave it to them.(I)

As the men started on their way to map out the land, Joshua instructed them, “Go and make a survey of the land and write a description of it.(J) Then return to me, and I will cast lots for you here at Shiloh(K) in the presence of the Lord.” So the men left and went through the land. They wrote its description on a scroll, town by town, in seven parts, and returned to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh. 10 Joshua then cast lots(L) for them in Shiloh in the presence(M) of the Lord, and there he distributed the land to the Israelites according to their tribal divisions.(N)

Allotment for Benjamin

11 The first lot came up for the tribe of Benjamin according to its clans. Their allotted territory lay between the tribes of Judah and Joseph:

12 On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan, passed the northern slope of Jericho and headed west into the hill country, coming out at the wilderness(O) of Beth Aven.(P) 13 From there it crossed to the south slope of Luz(Q) (that is, Bethel(R)) and went down to Ataroth Addar(S) on the hill south of Lower Beth Horon.

14 From the hill facing Beth Horon(T) on the south the boundary turned south along the western side and came out at Kiriath Baal (that is, Kiriath Jearim),(U) a town of the people of Judah. This was the western side.

15 The southern side began at the outskirts of Kiriath Jearim on the west, and the boundary came out at the spring of the waters of Nephtoah.(V) 16 The boundary went down to the foot of the hill facing the Valley of Ben Hinnom, north of the Valley of Rephaim.(W) It continued down the Hinnom Valley(X) along the southern slope of the Jebusite city and so to En Rogel.(Y) 17 It then curved north, went to En Shemesh, continued to Geliloth,(Z) which faces the Pass of Adummim,(AA) and ran down to the Stone of Bohan(AB) son of Reuben. 18 It continued to the northern slope of Beth Arabah[a](AC) and on down into the Arabah.(AD) 19 It then went to the northern slope of Beth Hoglah(AE) and came out at the northern bay of the Dead Sea,(AF) at the mouth of the Jordan in the south. This was the southern boundary.

20 The Jordan formed the boundary on the eastern side.

These were the boundaries that marked out the inheritance of the clans of Benjamin on all sides.(AG)

21 The tribe of Benjamin, according to its clans, had the following towns:

Jericho, Beth Hoglah,(AH) Emek Keziz, 22 Beth Arabah,(AI) Zemaraim,(AJ) Bethel,(AK) 23 Avvim,(AL) Parah, Ophrah,(AM) 24 Kephar Ammoni, Ophni and Geba(AN)—twelve towns and their villages.

25 Gibeon,(AO) Ramah,(AP) Beeroth,(AQ) 26 Mizpah,(AR) Kephirah,(AS) Mozah, 27 Rekem, Irpeel, Taralah, 28 Zelah,(AT) Haeleph, the Jebusite city(AU) (that is, Jerusalem(AV)), Gibeah(AW) and Kiriath—fourteen towns and their villages.(AX)

This was the inheritance of Benjamin for its clans.(AY)

Footnotes

  1. Joshua 18:18 Septuagint; Hebrew slope facing the Arabah