Joshua 21
The Scriptures (ISR 1998)

1And the heads of the fathers of the Lĕwites came near to El‛azar the priest, to Yehoshua son of Nun, and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of the children of Yisra’ĕl.

2And they spoke to them at Shiloh in the land of Kena‛an, saying, “יהוה commanded through Mosheh to give us cities to dwell in, with their open land for our livestock.”

3So the children of Yisra’ĕl gave to the Lĕwites from their inheritance, at the command of יהוה, these cities and their open land:

4And the lot came out for the clans of the Qehathites. And the children of Aharon the priest, who were of the Lĕwites, had thirteen cities by lot from the tribe of Yehuḏah, from the tribe of Shim‛on, and from the tribe of Binyamin.

5And the rest of the children of Qehath had ten cities by lot from the clans of the tribe of Ephrayim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half-tribe of Menashsheh.

6And the children of Gĕrshon had thirteen cities by lot from the clans of the tribe of Yissasḵar, from the tribe of Ashĕr, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half-tribe of Menashsheh in Bashan.

7The children of Merari for their clans had twelve cities from the tribe of Re’uḇĕn, and from the tribe of Gaḏ, and from the tribe of Zeḇulun.

8Thus the children of Yisra’ĕl gave these cities with their open land by lot to the Lĕwites, as יהוה had commanded by the hand of Mosheh.

9So from the tribe of the children of Yehuḏah and from the tribe of the children of Shim‛on they gave these cities which are mentioned by name,

10and they were for the children of Aharon, one of the clans of the Qehathites, who were of the children of Lĕwi, for the lot was theirs first.

11And they gave them Qiryath Arba, that is Ḥeḇron – Arba was the father of Anaq – in the mountains of Yehuḏah, with the open land surrounding it.

12And the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Kalĕḇ son of Yephunneh as his possession.

13But to the children of Aharon the priest they gave Ḥeḇron with its open land – a city of refuge for the slayer – and Liḇnah with its open land,

14and Yattir with its open land, and Eshtemoa with its open land,

15and Ḥolon with its open land, and Deḇir with its open land,

16and Ayin with its open land, and Yuttah with its open land, and Bĕyth Shemesh with its open land – nine cities from those two tribes.

17And from the tribe of Binyamin, Giḇ‛on with its open land, Geḇa with its open land,

18Anathoth with its open land, and Almon with its open land – four cities.

19All the cities of the children of Aharon, the priests, were thirteen cities with their open lands.

20And the clans of the children of Qehath, the Lĕwites, the rest of the children of Qehath, even they had the cities of their lot from the tribe of Ephrayim.

21And they gave them Sheḵem with its open land in the mountains of Ephrayim as a city of refuge for the slayer, and Gezer with its open land,

22and Qiḇtsayim with its open land, and Bĕyth Ḥoron with its open land – four cities.

23And from the tribe of Dan, Elteqĕh with its open land, Gibbethon with its open land,

24Ayalon with its open land, and Gath Rimmon with its open land – four cities.

25And from the half-tribe of Menashsheh, Ta‛naḵ with its open land, and Gath Rimmon with its open land – two cities.

26All the ten cities with their open lands were for the rest of the clans of the children of Qehath.

27And to the children of Gĕrshon, of the clans of the Lĕwites, from the other half-tribe of Menashsheh, they gave Golan in Bashan with its open land as a city of refuge for the slayer, and Be‛eshterah with its open land – two cities.

28And from the tribe of Yissasḵar, Qishyon with its open land, Daḇerath with its open land,

29Yarmuth with its open land, and Ěn Gannim with its open land – four cities.

30And from the tribe of Ashĕr, Mish’al with its open land, Aḇdon with its open land,

31Ḥelqath with its open land, and Reḥoḇ with its open land – four cities.

32And from the tribe of Naphtali, Qeḏesh in Galil with its open land as a city of refuge for the slayer, and Ḥammoth Dor with its open land, and Qartan with its open land – three cities.

33All the cities of the Gĕrshonites for their clans were thirteen cities with their open land.

34And to the clans of the children of Merari, the rest of the Lĕwites, from the tribe of Zeḇulun, Yoqne‛am with its open land, Qartah with its open land,

35Dimnah with its open land, Nahalal with its open land – four cities.

36And from the tribe of Re’uḇĕn, Betser with its open land, Yahtsah with its open land,

37Qeḏĕmoth with its open land, and Mĕpha‛ath with its open land – four cities.

38And from the tribe of Gaḏ, Ramoth in Gil‛aḏ with its open land as a city of refuge for the slayer, and Maḥanayim with its open land,

39Ḥeshbon with its open land, Ya‛zĕr with its open land – four cities in all.

40All the cities for the children of Merari for their clans, the rest of the clans of the Lĕwites, were by their lot twelve cities.

41All the cities of the Lĕwites within the possession of the children of Yisra’ĕl were forty-eight cities with their open lands.

42Each of these cities had its open land surrounding it. So it was with all these cities.

43Thus יהוה gave to Yisra’ĕl all the land of which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it, and dwelt in it.

44And יהוה gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them, יהוה gave all their enemies into their hand.

45Not a word failed of any good word which יהוה had spoken to the house of Yisra’ĕl – all came in.

Joshua 20
Top of Page
Top of Page