Joshua 21:1-16 ▼

1 THEN the chiefs of the priests and the Levites came near to Eleazar the priest and to Joshua the son of Nun and to the heads of the fathers of the tribes of Israel,

2 And they said to them at Shiloh in the land of Canaan, The LORD commanded by the hand of Moses to give us cities to dwell in, with their suburbs for our cattle.

3 And the children of Israel gave to the Levites out of their inheritance, at the commandment of the LORD, these cities and their suburbs.

4 And lots were drawn for the families of the Kohathites; and the children of Aaron the priest, who were of the Levites, had by lot from the tribe of Judah, from the tribe of Simeon, and from the tribe of Benjamin, thirteen cities.

5 And the rest of the Kohathites had by lot from the tribe of Ephraim, from the tribe of Dan, and from the half tribe of Manasseh, ten cities.

6 And the Gershonites had by lot from the tribe of Issachar, from the tribe of Asher, from the tribe of Naphtali, and from the half tribe of Manasseh in Mathnin, thirteen cities.

7 And the descendants of Merari by their families had from the tribe of Reuben, from the tribe of Gad, and from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

8 And the children of Israel gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their suburbs, as the LORD had commanded Moses.

9 These are the names of the cities which they gave out of the tribe of Judah, and out of the tribe of Simeon, each city mentioned by its name.

10 They became the property of the descendants of Aaron, being of the family of the Kohathites, who were the children of Levi, for theirs was the first lot.

11 And they gave them Koriath-arba, which belonged to the father of giants, that is, Hebron, on the mountain of Judah, with its suburbs round about it.

12 But the fields of the city, with its villages, they gave to Caleb the son of Jophaniah for his possession.

13 Thus they gave to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayers, with its suburbs, and Libnah with its suburbs,

14 And Jarath with its suburbs, and Eshtemoa with its suburbs.

15 Halol with its suburbs, Debir with its suburbs,

16 Ain with its suburbs, Aata with its suburbs, and Beth-shemesh with its suburbs; nine cities out of the tribes of Judah and Simeon.