Passage: Joshua 18, 19, 20 (RSV)


Joshua 18


1Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh, and set up the tent of meeting there; the land lay subdued before them.
2There remained among the people of Israel seven tribes whose inheritance had not yet been apportioned.
3So Joshua said to the people of Israel, "How long will you be slack to go in and take possession of the land, which the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you?
4Provide three men from each tribe, and I will send them out that they may set out and go up and down the land, writing a description of it with a view to their inheritances, and then come to me.
5They shall divide it into seven portions, Judah continuing in his territory on the south, and the house of Joseph in their territory on the north.
6And you shall describe the land in seven divisions and bring the description here to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD our God.
7The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the LORD is their heritage; and Gad and Reuben and half the tribe of Manas'seh have received their inheritance beyond the Jordan eastward, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave them."
8So the men started on their way; and Joshua charged those who went to write the description of the land, saying, "Go up and down and write a description of the land, and come again to me; and I will cast lots for you here before the LORD in Shiloh."
9So the men went and passed up and down in the land and set down in a book a description of it by towns in seven divisions; then they came to Joshua in the camp at Shiloh,
10and Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh before the LORD; and there Joshua apportioned the land to the people of Israel, to each his portion.
11The lot of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families came up, and the territory allotted to it fell between the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Joseph.
12On the north side their boundary began at the Jordan; then the boundary goes up to the shoulder north of Jericho, then up through the hill country westward; and it ends at the wilderness of Beth-a'ven.
13From there the boundary passes along southward in the direction of Luz, to the shoulder of Luz (the same is Bethel), then the boundary goes down to At'aroth-ad'dar, upon the mountain that lies south of Lower Beth-hor'on.
14Then the boundary goes in another direction, turning on the western side southward from the mountain that lies to the south, opposite Beth-hor'on, and it ends at Kir'iath-ba'al (that is, Kir'iath-je'arim), a city belonging to the tribe of Judah. This forms the western side.
15And the southern side begins at the outskirts of Kir'iath-je'arim; and the boundary goes from there to Ephron, to the spring of the Waters of Nephto'ah;
16then the boundary goes down to the border of the mountain that overlooks the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is at the north end of the valley of Reph'aim; and it then goes down the valley of Hinnom, south of the shoulder of the Jeb'usites, and downward to En-rogel;
17then it bends in a northerly direction going on to En-she'mesh, and thence goes to Geli'loth, which is opposite the ascent of Adum'mim; then it goes down to the Stone of Bohan the son of Reuben;
18and passing on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-arabah it goes down to the Arabah;
19then the boundary passes on to the north of the shoulder of Beth-hoglah; and the boundary ends at the northern bay of the Salt Sea, at the south end of the Jordan: this is the southern border.
20The Jordan forms its boundary on the eastern side. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin, according to its families, boundary by boundary round about.
21Now the cities of the tribe of Benjamin according to their families were Jericho, Beth-hoglah, Emek-ke'ziz,
22Beth-arabah, Zemara'im, Bethel,
23Avvim, Parah, Ophrah,
24Che'phar-am'moni, Ophni, Geba -- twelve cities with their villages:
25Gibeon, Ramah, Be-er'oth,
26Mizpeh, Chephi'rah, Mozah,
27Rekem, Irpeel, Tar'alah,
28Zela, Ha-eleph, Jebus (that is, Jerusalem), Gib'e-ah and Kir'iath-je'arim -- fourteen cities with their villages. This is the inheritance of the tribe of Benjamin according to its families.

Joshua 19


1The second lot came out for Simeon, for the tribe of Simeon, according to its families; and its inheritance was in the midst of the inheritance of the tribe of Judah.
2And it had for its inheritance Beer-sheba, Sheba, Mola'dah,
3Hazar-shu'al, Balah, Ezem,
4Elto'lad, Bethul, Hormah,
5Ziklag, Beth-mar'caboth, Ha'zar-su'sah,
6Beth-leba'oth, and Sharu'hen -- thirteen cities with their villages;
7En-rimmon, Ether, and Ashan -- four cities with their villages;
8together with all the villages round about these cities as far as Ba'alath-beer, Ramah of the Negeb. This was the inheritance of the tribe of Simeon according to its families.
9The inheritance of the tribe of Simeon formed part of the territory of Judah; because the portion of the tribe of Judah was too large for them, the tribe of Simeon obtained an inheritance in the midst of their inheritance.
10The third lot came up for the tribe of Zeb'ulun, according to its families. And the territory of its inheritance reached as far as Sarid;
11then its boundary goes up westward, and on to Mar'eal, and touches Dab'besheth, then the brook which is east of Jok'ne-am;
12from Sarid it goes in the other direction eastward toward the sunrise to the boundary of Chis'loth-ta'bor; thence it goes to Dab'erath, then up to Japhi'a;
13from there it passes along on the east toward the sunrise to Gath-hepher, to Eth-kazin, and going on to Rimmon it bends toward Ne'ah;
14then on the north the boundary turns about to Han'nathon, and it ends at the valley of Iph'tahel;
15and Kattath, Nahal'al, Shimron, I'dalah, and Bethlehem -- twelve cities with their villages.
16This is the inheritance of the tribe of Zeb'ulun, according to its families -- these cities with their villages.
17The fourth lot came out for Is'sachar, for the tribe of Is'sachar, according to its families.
18Its territory included Jezreel, Chesul'loth, Shunem,
19Haph'ara-im, Shion, Ana'harath,
20Rabbith, Kish'ion, Ebez,
21Remeth, En-gan'nim, En-had'dah, Beth-paz'zez;
22the boundary also touches Tabor, Shahazu'mah, and Beth-she'mesh, and its boundary ends at the Jordan -- sixteen cities with their villages.
23This is the inheritance of the tribe of Is'sachar, according to its families -- the cities with their villages.
24The fifth lot came out for the tribe of Asher according to its families.
25Its territory included Helkath, Hali, Beten, Ach'shaph,
26Allam'melech, Amad, and Mishal; on the west it touches Carmel and Shihor-lib'nath,
27then it turns eastward, it goes to Beth-dagon, and touches Zeb'ulun and the valley of Iph'tahel northward to Beth-emek and Nei'el; then it continues in the north to Cabul,
28Ebron, Rehob, Hammon, Kanah, as far as Sidon the Great;
29then the boundary turns to Ramah, reaching to the fortified city of Tyre; then the boundary turns to Hosah, and it ends at the sea; Mahalab, Achzib,
30Ummah, Aphek and Rehob -- twenty-two cities with their villages.
31This is the inheritance of the tribe of Asher according to its families -- these cities with their villages.
32The sixth lot came out for the tribe of Naph'tali, for the tribe of Naph'tali, according to its families.
33And its boundary ran from Heleph, from the oak in Za-anan'nim, and Ad'ami-nekeb, and Jabneel, as far as Lakkum; and it ended at the Jordan;
34then the boundary turns westward to Az'noth-tabor, and goes from there to Hukkok, touching Zeb'ulun at the south, and Asher on the west, and Judah on the east at the Jordan.
35The fortified cities are Ziddim, Zer, Hammath, Rakkath, Chin'nereth,
36Ad'amah, Ramah, Hazor,
37Kedesh, Ed're-i, En-ha'zor,
38Yiron, Mig'dal-el, Horem, Beth-anath, and Beth-she'mesh -- nineteen cities with their villages.
39This is the inheritance of the tribe of Naph'tali according to its families -- the cities with their villages.
40The seventh lot came out for the tribe of Dan, according to its families.
41And the territory of its inheritance included Zorah, Esh'ta-ol, Ir-she'mesh,
42Sha-alab'bin, Ai'jalon, Ithlah,
43Elon, Timnah, Ekron,
44El'tekeh, Gib'bethon, Ba'alath,
45Jehud, Bene-be'rak, Gath-rim'mon,
46and Me-jar'kon and Rakkon with the territory over against Joppa.
47When the territory of the Danites was lost to them, the Danites went up and fought against Leshem, and after capturing it and putting it to the sword they took possession of it and settled in it, calling Leshem, Dan, after the name of Dan their ancestor.
48This is the inheritance of the tribe of Dan, according to their families -- these cities with their villages.
49When they had finished distributing the several territories of the land as inheritances, the people of Israel gave an inheritance among them to Joshua the son of Nun.
50By command of the LORD they gave him the city which he asked, Tim'nath-se'rah in the hill country of E'phraim; and he rebuilt the city, and settled in it.
51These are the inheritances which Elea'zar the priest and Joshua the son of Nun and the heads of the fathers' houses of the tribes of the people of Israel distributed by lot at Shiloh before the LORD, at the door of the tent of meeting. So they finished dividing the land.

Joshua 20


1Then the LORD said to Joshua,
2"Say to the people of Israel, `Appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses,
3that the manslayer who kills any person without intent or unwittingly may flee there; they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood.
4He shall flee to one of these cities and shall stand at the entrance of the gate of the city, and explain his case to the elders of that city; then they shall take him into the city, and give him a place, and he shall remain with them.
5And if the avenger of blood pursues him, they shall not give up the slayer into his hand; because he killed his neighbor unwittingly, having had no enmity against him in times past.
6And he shall remain in that city until he has stood before the congregation for judgment, until the death of him who is high priest at the time: then the slayer may go again to his own town and his own home, to the town from which he fled.'"
7So they set apart Kedesh in Galilee in the hill country of Naph'tali, and Shechem in the hill country of E'phraim, and Kir'iath-ar'ba (that is, Hebron) in the hill country of Judah.
8And beyond the Jordan east of Jericho, they appointed Bezer in the wilderness on the tableland, from the tribe of Reuben, and Ramoth in Gilead, from the tribe of Gad, and Golan in Bashan, from the tribe of Manas'seh.
9These were the cities designated for all the people of Israel, and for the stranger sojourning among them, that any one who killed a person without intent could flee there, so that he might not die by the hand of the avenger of blood, till he stood before the congregation.



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